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Mali has suspended schools and universities countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage caused by a embargo on energy resources implemented by Islamist insurgents.

Top education official declared on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of personnel and students had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to resolve the situation so that educational activities could resume on November 10th.

For a number of weeks, the nation has been facing a energy deficit, especially in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a embargo by attacking fuel trucks on key routes.

Mali is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are transported by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Long queues have been snaking around gas pumps in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently become deserted.

The ruling military council had previously promised residents that it was only a passing concern, but the emergency has persisted.

In the past few days, the US Embassy in Bamako declared that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would leave Mali amid the worsening petrol scarcity and escalating security concerns.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is presently governed by a army council headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in two years ago.

The military government had popular support when it took power, committing to tackle the ongoing instability triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been stationed in a decade ago to combat the increasing militant activity.

Both have left since the military assumed power, and the current administration has employed foreign fighters to address the insecurity.

Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and large parts of the north and east of the state remain not under administrative command.