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Mali has closed educational facilities and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a critical energy crisis triggered by a restriction on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education stated on national broadcast that all education institutions would remain closed until the ninth of November, explaining that the movement of personnel and students had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the authorities were “making every effort” to resolve the crisis so that academic sessions could continue on the tenth of November.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been grappling with a petrol crisis, particularly in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a restriction by attacking fuel trucks on major highways.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are delivered by land routes from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Long queues have been winding around gas pumps in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently become deserted.

The military government had earlier this month assured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has persisted.

Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and growing protection worries.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is now led by a armed forces administration under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in recently.

The ruling council had popular support when it took power, vowing to deal with the long-running security crisis prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been stationed in a decade ago to address the increasing militant activity.

Both have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has employed private military contractors to combat the insecurity.

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