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Mali has suspended schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a blockade on petroleum supplies enforced by jihadist fighters.

Top education official declared on state television that all education institutions would be inactive until the ninth of November, noting that the travel of staff and learners had been affected by the restrictions.

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

For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a energy deficit, notably in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a blockade by attacking transport vehicles on key routes.

The country is without coastal access, so all energy resources are delivered by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Long queues have been winding around petrol stations in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The junta-led administration had in recent days assured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has persisted.

In the past few days, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would leave the country amid the worsening fuel shortage and growing protection worries.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a army council under the leadership of General Goïta, who took control in a coup in two years ago.

The military government had public backing when it came to authority, vowing to deal with the ongoing instability caused by a autonomy movement in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to combat the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to address the instability.

However, the militant uprising has persisted and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain not under administrative command.