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The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and universities countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage triggered by a blockade on fuel imports imposed by militant groups.

Top education official stated on national broadcast that all education institutions would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the movement of staff and learners had been disrupted by the restrictions.

He asserted that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to end the situation so that classes could restart on November 10th.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, particularly in the main city, after insurgents from an jihadist network enforced a blockade by targeting tankers on major highways.

The country is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are transported by land routes from neighboring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

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

The ruling military council had in recent days reassured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted.

In the past few days, the US Embassy in Bamako declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would leave Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and escalating protection worries.

It said that the fuel disruptions had affected 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 armed forces administration headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in two years ago.

The ruling council had popular support when it assumed control, vowing to deal with the long-running security crisis caused by a autonomy movement in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.

The international UN troops and French forces had been stationed in previously to address the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to combat the instability.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain outside government control.