Since 1916, there have been at least five Tuareg rebellions. After the failure of the
2007–2009 rebellion in northern Niger and Mali, some Tuareg fighters left for
Libya, where they were integrated into the ranks of the
Libyan Army. At the end of 2011, following a successful
NATO military intervention in Libya, which resulted in the defeat of the
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the death of Libyan dictator
Muammar Gaddafi, several Tuareg from the Libyan Army and the rebel
National Transitional Council (NTC) returned to northern Mali. Many fighters returned for either financial reasons, such as losing their savings, or due to the alleged racism of NTC fighters and Libyan militias. The MNLA was founded in October 2011; though it is sometimes considered to have been founded more than a year earlier in relation to other such groups. The MNLA claim to be a movement for the liberation of all the peoples of "Azawad" (
Songhai,
Arab,
Fula, and
Tuareg). On the subject of its composition, the MNLA has declared: The MNLA was said to have been formed following a merger of the Northern Mali Tuareg Movement and other related groups. An alleged influx of arms, originally intended for rebels in Libya, led to a huge cache in the largely ungoverned desert areas around where the Tuareg live. This led to concern that much of the heavy weaponry remains unaccounted for. The group was considered to be secular. The Tuareg fighters within the ranks of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad have been considered former allies of
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi which may have organized after the
Tuareg Rebellion between 2007 and 2009. ". The
government of Mali accused the movement of cooperating with AQIM.
Factionalism According to sources in the Malian government, the MNLA was rumored to have factionalized with the
Islamist Ansar Dine claiming control of the region after the capture of several cities, previously attributed to the MNLA. Though the international media has linked the MNLA to Ansar Dine and AQIM, the MNLA distanced itself from both groups, stating that their sole goal is the independence of "Azawad". However, after the fall of Timbuktu, they declared that "Azawad" would be governed alongside Ansar Dine. On 26 May, the MNLA and Ansar Dine announced a pact in which they would merge to form an
Islamist state, named the Islamic Republic of Azawad.
Fight for Independence MNLA launched its armed campaign in January 2012 with the goal of freeing three regions of Mali from the central government's control On 1 February, they reportedly managed to take control over several parts of northern Mali, including Menaka. During that time, several sources confirmed that the movement successfully opened a fifth front in the town of
Lere. At the end of January, MNLA's commanders claimed to have shot down a Malian Air Force
MiG-21, using
surface-to-air missiles, that the movement's fighters acquired from
NATO arms drops over Libya. Further towns were seized and re-seized over the course of February and March. At the same time, in the aftermath of the armed clashes in the north, Tuareg civilians were said to have left
Bamako for fear of reprisals. According to the
International Committee of the Red Cross, 3,500 people had fled across the border to
Mauritania, while a further 10,000 people had crossed into Niger during the armed clashes. On 8 February 2012,
Tinzaouaten was wrested from central government control after Malian troops took a "tactical withdrawal" following one soldier being killed in the battle and two others sustaining injuries, amid calls by the United Nations for a halt to the offensive. One rebel was also killed and another was wounded, while the MNLA seized two military bases and several weapons storage sites there. The ICRC added that there were 30,000
internally displaced persons, while the UN said that over 20,000 people have fled to
Burkina Faso,
Algeria, and
Mauritania. Furthermore, the
United Nations issued warnings of food shortages as a result of the fighting. Additionally, the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that approximately 22,000 people had been displaced in February. The
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) planned to send a team to investigate the violence. It also condemned their actions and called for logistical support for Mali. After the
March coup d'état, the MNLA, as well as Ansar Dine, took control not only of several small towns but also of the bigger cities of
Kidal,
Gao, and
Timbuktu.
Reuters reported that MNLA's capture of Timbuktu was the culmination of the group's plan to take control over northern Mali. Additionally, the MNLA announced that by taking Timbuktu, it sought to "dislodge Mali's remaining political and military administration" in the region, stating that it would rule the region with Ansar Dine in opposition to the administration in Bamako. On 6 April, in an interview with
France 24, an MNLA spokesman officially announced the
independence of Azawad, declaring it as a sovereign and independent country, while stating that the movement would act as a provisional administration until a fully functional government is elected and confirmed. In the same interview,
Mossa Ag Attaher also promised that "Azawad" would "respect all the colonial frontiers that separate Azawad from its neighbours" and insisted that Azawad's declaration of independence has "some international legality." Two days after Azawad officially declared independence, the Arab-dominated
National Liberation Front of Azawad (FLNA) was formed, whose primary task was to defend Timbuktu from a supposed Tuareg domination.
Conflict with Islamist groups Although the MNLA collaborated with and fought alongside various Islamist groups against the Malian government in the beginning of the conflict, there were deep ideological differences between them. The MNLA's primary goal of establishing a secular, sovereign, and independent country of
Azawad in the territory of northern Mali contrasted sharply with the aims of the Islamist groups, whose objective was to unite Mali under a
theocratic government and impose Islamic
sharia law on a countrywide level. Consequently, after the majority of the
Malian Armed Forces had been defeated and expelled from the region, the two ideological camps began to turn against each other. On 26 May, the MNLA and
Ansar Dine announced a pact in which they would merge to form an Islamist state. On 26 June 2012, the tension erupted into combat in Gao between the MNLA and the
Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), with both sides firing heavy weapons at each other's positions. MNLA Secretary-General
Bilal ag Acherif was wounded in the battle. MOJWA managed to gain the upper hand, which resulted in the MNLA's troops being eventually forced to retreat from the city, as well as from Kidal and Timbuktu shortly afterwards. However, the MNLA stated that it continued to maintain forces and control some rural areas in the region. The following day, Ansar Dine announced that it was in control of all the cities of northern Mali. and MNLA delegates in
Ouagadougou with Burkina Faso President
Blaise Compaoré, 16 November 2012 Initially, the MNLA retained control of the city of
Ménaka, with hundreds of people taking refuge in the city from the Islamists, and the city of
Tinzawatène near the Algerian border. In the same month, a splinter group broke off from the MNLA, calling itself the
Front for the Liberation of the Azawad (FPA), and stating that Tuareg independence was no longer a "realistic goal" and that they must concentrate on fighting the
Islamists. On 16 November 2012, MNLA forces launched an offensive against Gao in an attempt to retake the town. However, by the end of the day, the Tuaregs were beaten back by the MOJWA forces after the Islamists laid an ambush for them. On 19 November 2012, MOJWA and AQIM forces took over Ménaka from the MNLA. On 14 January 2013, after
French intervention in the conflict had commenced, the MNLA declared it would fight alongside the French and even the Malian government to "end terrorism in Azawad." At the same time, the MNLA warned the Malian forces not to enter territories it considered its own before an official autonomy agreement was signed. The spokesman also declared that the MNLA would be a more effective force than those of the neighboring West African nations "because of our knowledge of the ground and the populations." On 28 November 2013, after a few hundred Tuareg protesters were violently confronted by Malian soldiers over the visit of Malian Prime Minister
Oumar Tatam Ly to MNLA-controlled Kidal, one of the MNLA founders, Attaye Ag Mohamed, said: "The political and military wings of the Azawad declare the lifting of the ceasefire with the central government in Bamako. All our military positions are on alert." ==Organization==