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The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a critical energy crisis resulting from a restriction on petroleum supplies implemented by militant groups.

Top education official stated on state television that all academic facilities would be inactive until November 9th, noting that the transportation of staff and pupils had been disrupted by the restrictions.

He stated that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to end the situation so that academic sessions could restart on 10 November.

For several weeks, the nation has been grappling with a energy deficit, particularly in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a embargo by striking fuel trucks on major highways.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are brought in by truck from bordering countries such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The military government had in recent days promised citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has endured.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart the country amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and escalating security concerns.

It explained that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is currently ruled by a military junta headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in two years ago.

The ruling council had public backing when it came to authority, promising to address the long-running security crisis prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and French forces had been deployed in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.

These forces have departed since the military assumed power, and the military government has contracted foreign fighters to address the instability.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the north and east of the state remain not under administrative command.