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Mali has temporarily halted educational facilities and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a severe petrol shortage caused by a embargo on petroleum supplies enforced by Islamist insurgents.

Minister of Education declared on state television that all learning centers would be inactive until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of personnel and pupils had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the crisis so that academic sessions could restart on November 10th.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an jihadist network imposed a blockade by striking fuel trucks on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are delivered by truck from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had previously reassured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has continued.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital announced that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would evacuate Mali amid the worsening petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns.

It noted that the energy interruptions had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.

Mali is currently ruled by a armed forces administration headed by General Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in two years ago.

The military government had popular support when it took power, vowing to address the long-running security crisis caused by a independence uprising in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been sent in previously to address the increasing militant activity.

These forces have departed since the new administration came in, and the military government has employed Russian mercenaries to address the instability.

However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain outside government control.