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The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and universities countrywide due to a critical petrol shortage caused by a embargo on fuel imports implemented by jihadist fighters.

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

He emphasized that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the emergency so that academic sessions could continue on 10 November.

For several weeks, Mali has been grappling with a fuel shortage, particularly in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a embargo by attacking tankers on key routes.

The country is without coastal access, so all energy resources are transported by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been forming around petrol stations in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently become deserted.

The ruling military council had earlier this month promised residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has continued.

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart the country amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and growing safety issues.

It explained that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is now led by a armed forces administration under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a coup in recently.

The ruling council had widespread approval when it came to authority, promising to address the ongoing instability prompted by a autonomy movement in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.

The international UN troops and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.

The international troops have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the current administration has hired Russian mercenaries to combat the violence.

However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and extensive regions of the north and east of the country remain beyond state authority.