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Mali has closed schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a embargo on petroleum supplies imposed by militant groups.

Top education official announced on state television that all learning centers would remain closed until the ninth of November, explaining that the travel of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the blockade.

He stated that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that classes could continue on 10 November.

For weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, particularly in the administrative center, after insurgents from an jihadist network enforced a blockade by attacking fuel trucks on major highways.

The country is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are delivered by road from neighboring states such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Lengthy waits have been winding around fuel outlets in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly grown silent.

The ruling military council had earlier this month reassured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has endured.

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in the capital declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart the country amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and growing security concerns.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a army council led by the military leader, who took control in a military overthrow in recently.

The military government had widespread approval when it assumed control, vowing to address the long-running security crisis triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been sent in 2013 to deal with the escalating insurgency.

Both have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has hired private military contractors to combat the instability.

Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and significant areas of the north and east of the country remain not under administrative command.