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Mali has suspended schools and universities across the nation due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on energy resources imposed by Islamist insurgents.

Top education official declared on public media that all academic facilities would remain closed until the ninth of November, explaining that the movement of employees and learners had been affected by the restrictions.

He asserted that the administration were “doing everything possible” to alleviate the situation so that academic sessions could continue on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, Mali has been facing a energy deficit, particularly in the main city, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a restriction by attacking transport vehicles on key routes.

The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are brought in by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

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

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would leave the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and escalating safety issues.

It explained that the energy interruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in recently.

The ruling council had public backing when it assumed control, committing to deal with the protracted safety emergency prompted by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been deployed in 2013 to deal with the increasing militant activity.

These forces have left since the junta took over, and the military government has contracted Russian mercenaries to tackle the violence.

However, the militant uprising has continued and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain beyond state authority.