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Mali has closed schools and universities throughout the country due to a critical petrol shortage resulting from a blockade on petroleum supplies imposed by militant groups.

Minister of Education announced on public media that all education institutions would remain closed until 9 November, noting that the travel of staff and learners had been affected by the blockade.

He stated that the administration were “making every effort” to end the situation so that academic sessions could restart on 10 November.

For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, especially in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a embargo by attacking transport vehicles on major highways.

The country is without coastal access, so all energy resources are transported by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the main city in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had previously promised citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has endured.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would leave the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and growing security concerns.

It explained that the energy interruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is presently governed by a army council headed by the military leader, who assumed authority in a coup in recently.

The junta had widespread approval when it took power, promising to deal with the long-running security crisis triggered by a autonomy movement in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been stationed in a decade ago to deal with the growing rebellion.

These forces have left since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has contracted private military contractors to combat the instability.

However, the militant uprising has continued and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain beyond state authority.