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Mali has closed schools and colleges countrywide due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a blockade on energy resources enforced by militant groups.

The Education Minister announced on state television that all education institutions would remain closed until the ninth of November, noting that the travel of personnel and pupils had been affected by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the situation so that classes could restart on November 10th.

For weeks, Mali has been facing a fuel shortage, particularly in the main city, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a embargo by targeting fuel trucks on key routes.

The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are transported by road from bordering countries such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Long queues have been winding around fuel outlets in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently grown silent.

The ruling military council had earlier this month promised residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has persisted.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would evacuate Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and growing security concerns.

It said that the energy interruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is now led by a military junta led by the military leader, who took control in a military overthrow in two years ago.

The ruling council had public backing when it took power, committing to tackle the long-running security crisis prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and French forces had been stationed in previously to deal with the increasing militant activity.

Both have left since the military assumed power, and the current administration has contracted Russian mercenaries to combat the violence.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain beyond state authority.