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The landlocked West African country has closed schools and colleges countrywide due to a acute energy crisis triggered by a blockade on fuel imports enforced by jihadist fighters.

Top education official declared on state television that all academic facilities would stay shut until the ninth of November, explaining that the transportation of personnel and learners had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the administration were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the crisis so that classes could resume on the tenth of November.

For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an jihadist network initiated a blockade by striking fuel trucks on key routes.

The country is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are transported by road from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Long queues have been winding around petrol stations in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently become deserted.

The ruling military council had earlier this month assured residents that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has continued.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would depart Mali amid the worsening petrol scarcity and growing safety issues.

It said that the energy interruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by the military leader, who assumed authority in a takeover in recently.

The ruling council had public backing when it took power, promising to deal with the ongoing instability triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.

The international UN troops and European soldiers had been stationed in a decade ago to deal with the growing rebellion.

The international troops have left since the new administration came in, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to combat the violence.

Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.