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From 1990 to 1995, a rebellion by various Tuareg groups took place in Niger and Mali, with the aim of achieving autonomy or forming their own nation-state. The insurgency occurred in a period following the regional famine of the 1980s and subsequent refugee crisis, and a time of generalised political repression and crisis in both nations. The conflict is one in a series of Tuareg-based insurgencies in the colonial and post-colonial history of these nations. In Niger, it is also referred to as the Second or Third Tuareg Rebellion, a reference to the pre-independence rebellions of Ag Mohammed Wau Teguidda Kaocen of the Aïr Mountains in 1914 and the rising of Firhoun of Ikazkazan in 1911, who reappeared in Mali in 1916. In fact, the nomadic Tuareg confederations have come into sporadic conflict with the sedentary communities of the region ever since they migrated from the Maghreb into the Sahel region between the 7th and 14th centuries CE. Some Tuareg wanted an independent Tuareg nation to be formed when French colonialism ended. This, combined with dissatisfaction over the new governments, led some Tuareg in Northern Mali to rebel in 1963.
People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad was a Tuareg militant rebel group in northern Mali. Initially based amongst exiles in Algeria and, especially, Libya, MPLA launched an armed campaign in June 1990. This fed into the disturbances already underway in Mali, and started a civil war. After the overthrow of the Malian government, and the introduction of electoral democracy, the rebellion gradually ceased.
Arab Islamic Front of Azawad was a militant rebel group in northern Mali. It was headed by Ahmed Ould Sidi Mohamed.
The May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change is a Malian Tuareg rebel group, formed in 2006 by ex-combatants from the 1990s Tuareg insurgency in Mali. In 2007, splinters of the organisation returned to combat in northern Mali, launching the Malian element of the 2007 Tuareg insurgency. Led by Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, this ADC faction continued to operate under that name, despite most elements remaining under ceasefire. In July 2008, most of these elements, along with much of the splinter following Ag Bahanga reached another accord with the Malian government in Algiers. Ag Bahanga and a faction of that group rejected the accord and fled to Libya. At the end of 2008, this faction returned to fighting, operating under the name Alliance Touaregue Nord Mali Pour Le Changement (ATNMC). The government of Mali has contended since 2007 that the Ag Bahanga faction of the ADC is a "band of marginals" who were "isolated from the heart of the Tuareg community", primarily motivated by lucrative Trans-Saharan smuggling operations operating from Ag Bahanga's home town of Tin-Zaouatene. Ag Bahanga and the other leaders of his faction contend that the government of Mali oppresses the Tuareg population of the north, and has repeatedly failed to live up to its agreements with the ADC and other groups. Outside observers have also speculated that internal rivalries between Tuareg from the Kel Adagh and the Ouilliminden confederations have frustrated peace attempts.
The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad or the Azawad National Liberation Movement, formerly the National Movement of Azawad, was a militant organization based in northern Mali.
Ansar Dine, meaning "helpers of the religion" (Islam) and also known as Ansar al-Din, was a Salafi jihadist group led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. Ansar Dine sought to impose absolute sharia across Mali. The group took over the city of Timbuktu in 2012, which prompted the French-led intervention, Operation Serval.
Iyad Ag Ghaly, also known as Abū al-Faḍl, is a Tuareg Islamist militant from Mali's Kidal Region. He has been active in Tuareg rebellions against the Malian government since the 1980s – particularly in the early 1990s. In 1988, he founded the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Azawad. In the latest episode of the Tuareg upheavals in 2012, he featured as the founder and leader of the Islamist militant group Ansar Dine.
On 6 April 2012, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad unilaterally declared Azawad independent from the Republic of Mali in the wake of a rebellion which was preceded by a string of other Tuareg rebellions. It is called the Independent State of Azawad.
Mohamed Ag Najem is an Azawadi colonel, who is the chief of staff of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) army.
The Battle of Gao was fought between the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and the Islamist Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), along with its ally Ansar Dine, in Gao between 26–28 June 2012. By the 28 June, Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal, the three biggest cities in the disputed secessionist region of Azawad within what is recognised as Malian territory, were under the control of Ansar Dine and its Islamist allies.
Ibrahim Ag Bahanga was a Tuareg rebel who fought in several Tuareg rebellions between 1990 and 2011. He was one of the founders of the May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change, and became the sole leader of the Tuareg rebellion in 2009 after the rest of the ADC signed peace agreements.
Ba Ag Moussa was a Malian militant and jihadist.
Hassan Ag Fagaga, born around 1959 or 1966, in Kidal, Mali, was a Malian soldier and a Tuareg rebel.
The Coalition of the People of Azawad, also translated as the Coalition for the People of Azawad (CPA) is a Tuareg political and military movement formed in 2014 during the Mali War.
El Hadj Ag Gamou, born December 31, 1964, in Tidermène, Mali, is an Imghad Tuareg Malian division general. Gamou is currently the governor of Kidal Region since November 22, 2023, and has also been the head of his faction of Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies since the group's foundation. Prior to his governorship, Gamou served in the Malian army, commanding Malian troops against Ansar Dine and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) in the early stages of the Mali War.
The High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA) (French: Haut conseil pour l'unité de l'Azawad) is a Tuareg political movement formed on May 2, 2013, during the Mali War. The movement was initially called the High Council of Azawad (HCA) (French: Haut conseil de l'Azawad) before changing its name on May 19, 2013.
Alghabass Ag Intalla is a Malian Tuareg politician and prominent leader of the High Council for the Unity of Azawad and the Coordination of Azawad Movements.
Cheikh Ag Aoussa, nom de guerre Abou Mohame, was a Tuareg rebel leader and prominent drug trafficker.
The Tuareg rebellion of 2006 was a short-lived rebellion by Tuareg notables demanding more autonomy for Kidal Region between May 23 and July 4, 2006. The rebellion began with mutinies by Tuareg officers integrated into the Malian army following the Tuareg rebellion of the 1990s, and mediation between the Malian government and the May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change (ADC) began immediately afterwards. The mediation culminated in the Algiers Accords of 2006, although the same Tuareg leaders during the 2006 rebellion went on to ally with Nigerien Tuareg rebels during the Tuareg rebellion of 2007 to 2009.
Between June 28 and 29, 1990, Tuareg rebels from the People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MPLA) attacked the Malian Army outpost at Ménaka, sparking the Tuareg rebellion of 1990 to 1996.
References
- ↑ "Afribone.com :: Nord : Retour sur les accords de paix". archive.wikiwix.com. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ↑ "MPA". tuaregs.free.fr. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ↑ "Mali: après deux années de rébellion Un " Pacte national " a été signé à Bamako avec les Touaregs". Le Monde.fr (in French). 1992-04-14. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ↑ Bourgi, Albert (2013). "Les enjeux géopolitiques de la crise malienne". Civitas Europa (2): 11–17. doi:10.3917/civit.031.0011 . Retrieved October 9, 2023.