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Mali has temporarily halted schools and universities across the nation due to a acute energy crisis caused by a blockade on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education declared on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until 9 November, explaining that the movement of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the government officials were “making every effort” to resolve the situation so that classes could resume on the tenth of November.

For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a energy deficit, especially in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a blockade by attacking tankers on major highways.

The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are delivered by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been winding around gas pumps in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly grown silent.

The ruling military council had previously assured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has endured.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would leave the country amid the intensifying energy crisis and escalating safety issues.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta led by the military leader, who seized power in a coup in two years ago.

The junta had widespread approval when it came to authority, committing to address the protracted safety emergency caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to address the growing rebellion.

The international troops have left since the junta took over, and the current administration has hired private military contractors to address the instability.

However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain not under administrative command.