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The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a severe energy crisis triggered by a blockade on petroleum supplies implemented by militant groups.

Top education official announced on state television that all learning centers would remain closed until 9 November, explaining that the travel of personnel and pupils had been impacted by the restrictions.

He asserted that the administration were “working tirelessly” to end the situation so that classes could resume on 10 November.

For several weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an jihadist network enforced a embargo by attacking transport vehicles on primary roads.

Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Extended lines have been forming around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently grown silent.

The ruling military council had previously promised residents that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has endured.

Recently, the US Embassy in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating security concerns.

It explained that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta headed by the military leader, who seized power in a military overthrow in two years ago.

The ruling council had widespread approval when it came to authority, committing to tackle the protracted safety emergency caused by a independence uprising in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.

The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been deployed in a decade ago to combat the escalating insurgency.

Both have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to tackle the violence.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.