![]() ![]() By the end of May 2013, Islamist and Tuareg forces have to retreat to the desert of northeastern Mali. French air campaign helped Malian government to push back islamist advances, allowing them to take back major cities of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal. ![]() The MNLA began peace talks to realign with the Malian government while the French military launched Opération Serval on January 11, intervening in the conflict. īy January 2013, Islamist forces advanced to 600 km from the capital and were closing in to capture the major town of Mopti. By July 2012, the MNLA had lost control of most of northern Mali to the Islamists. They soon came into conflict with the MNLA. However, Ansar Dine and other Islamist groups, including Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), a splinter group of AQIM, began imposing strict Sharia law in conquered territories. The MNLA were initially backed by Ansar Dine. On 6 April 2012, the MNLA said that it had accomplished its goals and proclaimed Azawad to be independent from Mali. Following the coup, Northern Mali's three largest cities: Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu were overrun by the rebels. In March 2012, Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup d'état over his handling of the conflict. However, unlike the MNLA, it does not seek independence but rather the impositions of sharia across united Mali. Another Tuareg-dominated group, the Islamist Ansar Dine, also fought against the Malian government. In October 2011, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) was formed from rebels of previous Tuareg rebellions and fighters who have returned from Libya. Tuareg fighters who fought for Gadaffi began to return from Libya after war ends, citing discrimination from the new government. In Libya, the Tuareg people largely supported Gaddafi during the war, Tuareg areas such as Ghat remain Gaddafi loyalist strongholds. Main articles: Tuareg rebellion (2012) and Mali WarĪfter the end of the 2011 Libyan Civil War, an influx of weaponry led to the arming of the Tuareg in their demand for greater autonomy and independence of their homeland in northern Mali, which they called Azawad. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War. Islamist insurgency in the Sahel or Jihadist Insurgencies in the Sahel refers to the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel region of West Africa following the 2011 Arab Spring to the present day. United States: 1,325+ advisors, trainers ĪQIM (former GSPC): 1,000 –4,000 Boko Haram (from 2006, partially aligned with ISIL since 2015) įrance: 5,100 deployed in the Sahel ![]()
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