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The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a acute fuel scarcity resulting from a embargo on fuel imports enforced by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister declared on public media that all learning centers would be inactive until 9 November, explaining that the travel of personnel and pupils had been affected by the restrictions.

He stated that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to end the emergency so that classes could continue on November 10th.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been grappling with a energy deficit, particularly in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a restriction by striking fuel trucks on major highways.

The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are delivered by land routes from bordering countries such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had earlier this month promised citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has persisted.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would depart Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and growing protection worries.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

Mali is now led by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in recently.

The military government had popular support when it assumed control, committing to address the protracted safety emergency caused by a autonomy movement in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

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

Both have left since the junta took over, and the military government has hired Russian mercenaries to tackle the instability.

However, the militant uprising has endured and large parts of the north and east of the country remain outside government control.