New Delhi, Oct. 27 -- Mali closed schools and universities nationwide starting Monday due to a fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on fuel imports jihadi militants imposed on the capital.

Education Minister Amadou Sy Savane announced on state television Sunday classes would be suspended for two weeks "due to disruptions in fuel supplies that are affecting the movement of school staff."

Militants from the al-Qaida-backed Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin group announced a ban on fuel imports from neighboring countries into Mali in early September, squeezing the landlocked country's fragile economy and leaving hundreds of fuel trucks stranded at the border.

Mali, along with neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, has battled an insurgency ...