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The 'Tuareg Rebellion' was an uprising of the 1990s by various Tuareg groups in Niger and Mali with the aim of achieving autonomy or forming their own nation-state.

Contents

Background

Niger, 1985-1990

Mali Civil War, 1990-1996

Niger

Rebel groups

Malian Tuareg Groups

Nigerien Tuareg Groups

See also

References

For Niger

External links

Background

Tuareg people form a distinct minority in all the Saharan countries they inhabit and a majority in many Saharan regions. In many cases, the Tuareg have been marginalised by governments based in the Sahel or on the Mediterranean coast. Desertification and droughts in 1972-74 and 84-85 killed livestock and forced the alteration of traditional migration routes, increasing conflict between neighbouring groups. Aid from national governments was often unforthcoming, and many sided against the Tuareg - one notable exception being Libya.

Niger, 1985-1990

In Niger's far north, drought, economic crisis, and the central government's political weakness came to a head in 1985. A number of Tuareg joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Niger (FPLN) in Libya. An attack in Tabardene sparked the closing of the borders with Libya and Algeria, and the resettlement of thousands of Tuareg and other nomads away from the area. As economic and political conditions worsened, grivences grew. When promised aid from Ali Saïbou's government in Niger for Tuareg returned from Algeria failed to materialise, some Tuareg attacked a police station in Tchin-Tabaradene. Initially their main call was for the right for their children to learn Tamashek at school, but this soon escalated to a demand for autonomy. .The Nigerien Army responded brutally, killing several hundreds of Tuaregs in the north, and sparking the creation of two rebel groups : the Front for the Liberation of Air and Azaouak and Front for the Liberation of Tamoust.

Mali Civil War, 1990-1996

In Mali, the rising began in 1990 when Tuareg separatists attacked government buildings around Gao in Mali. The Malian Army's reprisals led to a full-blown rebellion in which the absence of opportunities for Tuareg in the army was a major complaint. The conflict died down after Alpha Konaré formed a new government and made reparations in 1992.
Tuareg, probably trained and armed by Libya, attacked Gao, which again led to major Malian Army reprisals and to the creation of the Ghanda Koi Songhai militia to combat the Tuareg. Mali effectively fell into a civil war.
In 1995, moderates on both sides negotiated a peace settlement.
Weapons were ceremonially burnt in 1996 in Timbuktu as a symbolic conclusion to the conflict. Aid has since been given to the Tuareg areas of the country and separatism has declined. The situation, however, remains tense with fears that the conflict may be renewed.

Niger

In Niger, sparratic fighting in the Aïr Mountains of the far north continued from 1990. The tourist center of Agadez, the uranium mining town of Arlit (largely exploited by the French multinational Areva), and the traditional Tuareg trade town of In-Gall were evacuated of foreigners and armed by the Nigerien Army. Attacks were few, the response was ineffective, but great economic damage was done, rendering the Agadez Department largely off limits to outsiders.
The two main rebel groups in Niger, agreed a truce in 1994, just as war flared up again in Mali. Mano Dayak, a Tuareg leader and negotiator who led the Tuareg rebellion in Tenere region died in a suspicious plane crash in 1995.
As part of an initiative started under the 1991 national conference, however, the peace accords of 15 April 1995 with all Tuareg ( and some Toubou rebels) groups were negotiated with Government of Niger in Ouagadougou, the final armed group signing up in 1998. The Tuareg claimed they lacked attention and resources from the central government. The government agreed to absorb some former rebels into the military and, with French assistance, help others return to a productive civilian life. Controversy has continued to revolve around Tuareg leaders brought into government, with the arrest of the Minister of Tourism Rhissa ag Boula in 2004 and his July 2005 pardon, on suspicion of involvement in a political murder. Niger's Tuaregs continue to watch closely the development and economic activities of the government, especially in regards the Aïr Mountains' burgeoning tourist trade, and Arlit's recovering uranium industry.
Occasional attacks continue (2004 through 2007) to be claimed by Tuareg groups and the Toubou Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara, but press accounts suggest these have little support in the larger community.

Rebel groups

Malian Tuareg Groups

★ Arab Islamic Front of Azawad (FIAA), Mali.

★ Popular Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MPLA).

★ United Movements and Fronts of Azawad (MFUA).

Nigerien Tuareg Groups

★ Front for the Liberation of Air and Azaouak (FLAA).

★ Front for the Liberation of Tamoust, (FLT).

★ Mano Dayak, Tuareg Rebel Leader.

See also

★ Second Tuareg Rebellion

References

For Niger

★ Samuel Decalo. Historical Dictionary of Niger. Scarecrow Press, London and New Jersey (1979). ISBN 0810812290

★ Jolijn Geels. Niger. Bradt London and Globe Pequot New York (2006). ISBN 1841621528.

External links

★ "'Tuareg rebels' leave Mali towns", ''BBC'', 24 May 2006