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The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a blockade on petroleum supplies imposed by Islamist insurgents.

Minister of Education announced on national broadcast that all education institutions would remain closed until 9 November, explaining that the travel of personnel and students had been affected by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to resolve the crisis so that educational activities could continue on 10 November.

For weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, notably in the capital Bamako, after militants from an jihadist network initiated a blockade by striking transport vehicles on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in by road from adjacent nations such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

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

Last week, the US Embassy in the capital announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would leave Mali amid the worsening petrol scarcity and growing security concerns.

It explained that the energy interruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is now led by a military junta headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in recently.

The military government had public backing when it assumed control, vowing to tackle the ongoing instability caused by a autonomy movement in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been sent in 2013 to address the increasing militant activity.

Both have departed since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has contracted Russian mercenaries to combat the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain beyond state authority.