Tuareg rebellion (2012)

Moved to Tuareg Rebellion (2012)

2012 insurgency in northern Mali
Part of Tuareg rebellions
Map of the rebel territorial claims and rebel attacks as of 1 April 2012.
Date 17 January 2012 – present Location Northern Mali (Azawad) Status Ongoing MLNA and Ansar Dine take control of all almost cities and towns of northern Mali Malian president Amadou Toumani Touré is ousted by a coup d'état
Belligerents
Mali AFRICOM(logistical support)	National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) Ansar Dine
Commanders and leaders
Amadou Toumani Touré (January–March 2012) Amadou Sanogo (since March 2012)	Bilal Ag Acherif Moussa Ag Acharatoumane Najim Ag Mohamed Iyad ag Ghaly El Haji Ag Gamou (defected)
Strength
7,000–7,800 regulars, 4,800 paramilitaries, 3,000 militia (overall military strength)	MNLA: 1,000-2,500 Ansar Dine: unknown
Casualties and losses
97 killed (Malian sources) 1,000–1,500+ killed, captured or deserted overall	65 killed (Malian sources)
80,000 refugees abroad 100,000+ internally displaced persons Total: 200,000+

The 2012 insurgency in northern Mali is an ongoing event that began in January 2012 amongst elements of the Tuareg and other peoples of the Sahara desert region of the Azawad, as a separatist rebellion against the Malian government. It is led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) in the most recent incarnation of a series of insurgencies by formerly nomadic Tuareg populations which date back at least to 1916. MNLA has been formed by former insurgents and a significant number of returning and heavily armed Tuareg fighters who fought for either the National Transitional Council or the Libyan army during the Libyan civil war. On 22 March, President Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup d'etat over his handling of the crisis, a month before a presidential election was to have taken place. Mutineering soldiers, under the banner of the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State, (CNRDR) suspended the constitution of Mali. As of 1 April, the three largest northern cities of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu were overrun by the rebels in three days, respectively.

Background

The MNLA is an offshoot of a political movement known as the National Movement for Azawad (MNA) prior to the insurgency. Some of the movement's members had previously been jailed. After the end of the Libyan civil war, an influx of weaponry led to the arming of the Tuareg in their demand for independence for the Azawad. Many of the returnees from Libya were said to have come back for financial reasons such as losing their savings, as well as due to the alleged racism of the NTC's fighters and militias. The strength of this uprising and the use of heavy weapons, which were not present in the previous conflicts, were said to have "surprised" Malian officials and observers. Though dominated by Tuaregs, the MNLA claims to represent other ethnic groups as well, and has reportedly been joined by a number of Arab leaders. The MNLA's leader Bilal Ag Acherif said that the onus was on Mali to either give the Saharan peoples their self-determination or they would take it themselves.

Another Tuareg-dominated group, the Islamist Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith), is also fighting against the government. This group, however, seeks to impose sharia law throughout the territory, according to its spokesman Ag Aoussa. He is in turn closely aligned with the movement's leader Iyad Ag Ghaly, who was part of the early 1990s rebellion and is believed to be linked to an offshoot of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) that is led by his cousin Hamada Ag Hama, by Mauritania and Mali. Iyad Ag Ghaly was also said to have been affiliated with Algeria's Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité (DRS) since 2003. There were also reports of an Algerian military presence in the area on 20 December 2011. Though Mali said they were in coordination against AQIM, there were no reported attacks in the region at the time; the MNLA even complained that the Malian government had not done enough to fight AQIM. Locals believed that the presence was due to the MNLA's promise to root out AQIM which was involved in drug trafficking allegedly with the connivance of high-ranking officers and threatened to turn Mali into a narcostate. By March, the MNLA was rumoured to have factionalised, according to the sources in the Malian government, with Ansar Dine claiming control of the region after the capture of several cities, previously attributed to the MNLA.

Course of the conflict

January

According to Stratfor, the first attacks took place in Ménaka on the 16 and 17 January. On 17 January attacks in Aguelhok and Tessalit were reported. The Mali government claimed to have regained control of all three towns the next day. On 24 January the rebels retook Aguelhok after the Malian army ran out of ammunition. The next day the Mali government once again recaptured the city. On 26 January, rebels attacked and took control over the northern Mali towns of Andéramboukane and Léré after clashes with the military. Stratfor also reported an attack on Niafunké on 31 January. The AFP reported that the rebels had captured Ménaka on 1 February. On 13 February, the French radio station RFI reported claims by the Malian army that the MLNA had carried out executions of its soldiers by slitting their throats or shooting them in the head. French Development Minister Henri de Raincourt mentioned that there had been about 60 deaths, while a Malian officer involved in burying the dead told the AFP that 97 soldiers had been killed, a higher number than the previously estimated 40 soldiers killed. Modern Ghana put the death toll at 82. However, the evidence was unverified and partly refuted as fabricated by the MNLA. Villagers said that only soldiers had been killed in battle with AQIM responsible for any "massacre." However, there was no precedent to indicate the Tuaregs resort to such measures, only that AQIM had a history of doing so. Mali had also launched air and land counter operations to take back seized territory, amid protests in Bamako and Kati. Toure then reorganised his senior commanders for the fight against the rebels.

February

On 1 February, the MNLA took control of the city of Menaka when the Malian army operated what they called a tactical retreat. The violence in the north led to counter protests in the capital city of Bamako. Dozens of Malian soldiers were also killed in fighting in Aguelhoc. Following the Bamako protests, the interior minister replaced the defense minister. Mali's President Amadou Toumani Touré also called on the population to not attack any community after some Tuaregs' properties were attacked during the Bamako protests.

On 4 February, the rebels said that they were attacking the city of Kidal, while the Malian army said that their troops were firing heavy weapons to prevent the city from being attacked. As a result of the fighting, 3,500 civilians left the city to cross the border into Mauritania. Previously an estimated 10,000 civilians had fled to refugee camps in Niger after the fighting in Menaka and Andéramboukane. Official Malian sources reported that 20 Tuareg rebels have been killed by the army in the Timbuktu region, most of them being killed by helicopter gunships. Tuareg rebels launched a major new offensive against Mali's security forces and military in a bid to seize the northern town of Kidal in early 6 February. Some loyalist Tuareg also fled to the city of Bamako, fearing reprisals after violent demonstrations in the first week of February. The Tuareg rebels had been bolstered by an influx of battle hardened fighters from Libya. On 8 February, the MNLA seized the Mali-Algeria border town of Tinzaouaten as Malian soldiers crossed into Algeria. A rebel spokesman said that they were able to gain weapons and military vehicles found in the military camps of the city. The fight for the town killed one government soldier and one rebel. During the month, Niafunké was also captured and lost by the rebels.

On 23 February, a girl was killed and ten other women and children were injured, when the Malian air force bombed a camp for IDPs in the north, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. The MNLA has repeatedly accused the Malian government of indiscriminate bombings by Malian attack helicopters piloted by foreign mercenaries.

March

On 4 March, a new round of fighting was reported near the formerly rebel-held town of Tessalit. The next day, three Malian army units gave up trying to lift the siege. The United States Air Force air-dropped supplies via a C-130 in support of the besieged Malian soldiers.

On 11 March, the MNLA re-took Tessalit and its airport after efforts by the government and its allies to re-supply the town failed and the Malian military forces fled towards the border with Algeria. The MNLA announced that they had also captured several soldiers, as well as light and heavy weapons and armored vehicles. About 600 Tuareg fighters took part in the battle.

The rebels advanced to about 125 kilometers away from Timbuktu and their advance was unchecked when they entered without fighting in the towns of Diré and Goundam. A Malian military source said that as the cities were overrun the military planned to defend Niafunké. The French newspaper Libération also reported claims that the rebels now controlled one third of Mali and that the Malian army was struggling to fight back. One of the three government helicopters manned by Ukrainian mercenaries had also broke down, while the two others were being kept to protect the south. Ansar Dine also claimed to have control of the Mali-Algeria border. It was reported that its leaders were planning a prisoner swap with the Malian government.

Coup d'état

Main article: 2012 Malian coup d'état

On 20 March, an op-ed on Al Jazeera suggested that there were "fissions within the Mali government and even talk of a Gao-based coup d'etat." On the same day, tensions were said to have risen after Defence Minister Sadio Gassama failed to address the soldiers' grievances while speaking at a military camp.

On 21 March, as an African Union (AU) ministerial meeting was under way in the country, gunfire erupted at a military camp near the presidential palace in Bamako just before another meeting was due to start between the soldiers Gassama about the rebellion. The mutineers cited President Amadou Toumani Touré's poor handling of the insurgency and the ill-equipped Malian Army in the fight against the insurgents. They then stoned the general's car, forcing him to flee the camp. Later that day, soldiers stormed the presidential palace, forcing Touré into hiding.

The next morning, Captain Amadou Sanogo, the chairman of the new National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State (CNRDR), made a television appearance in which he announced that the junta had suspended Mali's constitution and taken control of the nation. The CNRDR would serve as an interim regime until power could be returned to a new, democratically elected government.

The coup was condemned by several organisations and states in the international community, including by the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which announced on 29 March that the CNRDR had 72 hours to relinquish control before landlocked Mali's borders would be closed by its neighbours, its assets would be frozen by the West African Economic and Monetary Union, and individuals in the CNRDR would get freezes on their assets and travel bans. The African Union also suspended Mali. The U.S., the World Bank, and the African Development Bank suspended development aid funds in support of ECOWAS and the AU's reactions to the coup. Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, an ECOWAS commission chief, said that "ECOWAS is quite willing to assist the country to protect its territorial integrity, but we cannot do so when the power in place in Bamako is not legitimate...There is zero tolerance to power obtained or maintained by unconstitutional means."

The Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, who is the rotational chairman of ECOWAS and coming off an international intervention said that once the civilian government was restored an ECOWAS stand-by force of 2,000 soldiers could intervene against the rebellion. "Our wish is to avoid war. We must do everything possible to preserve the territorial integrity of Mali at all costs. We must succeed because if Mali is divided, carved up, it is a bad example." He also added the Toure should be allowed to finish his mandate and a transitional national unity government could then follow, after which the election "should be held between 21 and 40 days later. It is up to the political class to see if that is possible." As of 1 April, Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore was appointed as a mediator by ECOWAS to resolve the crisis.

In Bamako, political parties that supported the coup called out several hundred their supporters, some of whom held placards that read: "No to the facade of democracy." Sanogo formed the March 22nd Movement in support of the coup and in opposition to 38 political parties and movements who allied themselves against the leaders of the coup.

Renewed offensives

As a result of the uncertainty following the coup, the rebels launched an offensive with the aim of capturing several towns and army camps abandoned by the Malian army.

The MNLA took the town of Anefis without a fight on the night of 23 March. The Malian Army reportedly abandoned their posts in several northern towns as well due to the confusion following the coup d'etat. A military leader of the MNLA, Colonel Dilal ag Alsherif, said that as Mali's armed forces are in "disarray" the MLNA were taking advantage of the situation in furthering the cause of an independent Azawad. He made the statements while saying he was "very near to Kidal, you could say I am almost in Kidal," which he said was the next target. The head of a resident's committee in Gao also said a "code red" was issued due to reports of an imminent attack; in the region's biggest city, Timbuktu, a citizens' militia member said the group had been in touch with them with the intention of taking control of the town. Reports on 25 March suggested Ansar Dine had surrounded Kidal. On the same day at Saina, 120 kilometres (75 mi) from Gao, ten pro-government militia fighters were killed, including their leader, Amadou Diallo.

On 30 March, the rebels seized control of Kidal, the capital of the Kidal Region. Ansar Dine reportedly to have entered the town from the south after a day of heavy fighting. As a result of the loss of control of the city, Sanogo called on Mali's neighbours to provide military aid to "save the civilian population and Mali's territorial integrity."

The same day, the MNLA took control of the cities of Ansongo and Bourem in the Gao region, as the army said it was leaving its positions in both cities to support the defence of Gao, which is the headquarters of the Malian Army in the north. One administrator in Bouarem was reprtedly killed by the rebels. Protesters in Gao held rallies in support of the Malian administration with banners such as "Peace first, elections later." Nouhou Toure, a spokesman for the local militia Ganda Izo, said in response to ECOWAS' rejection of military aid that "contrary to what the international opinion thinks, we support these forces because they can bring back security here, and afterwards democracy." In the morning of 31 March, they entered the city of Gao carrying their Azawad flag, amid heavy gunfire being reported around the city's military camp, the biggest in northern Mali. Though the Malian Army then used helicopters to respond to the attack, they subsequently abandoned their bases around Gao later in the day. Sonogo said the decision to withdraw was based on the fact that the army bases were near civilian residential areas and that they left to avoid civilian casualties. Gao had heavier resistance as most members of the army garrisones in the city were Bambara as opposed to the predominantly Tuareg rebels. However, the MNLA then took control of the city. The same day, the Associated Press reported accounts of a refugee who fled to Niger that "signs of disunity" had begun to appear between the MNLA and Ansar Dine, including the removal of MNLA flags from Kidal. The MNLA then announced that it had "just ended Mali's occupation of the region of Gao by seizing and taking control of the city." Of the city's two military camps, the MNLA took control of Camp 1, the Malian Army's former operational centre against the rebellion, while Ansar Dine took control of Camp 2. A prison was reportedly opened, while public buildings were said to have been looted by civilians. The rebels were also alleged to have been looting bank safes, while Ansar Dine had starting imposing Sharia. Shops in the city also closed.

Checkpoints were erected around Timbuktu as rebel forces encircled it with the MNLA saying that it sought to "dislodge Mali's remaining political and military administration" in the region. Malian soldiers with southern origins were reported to have started evacuating Timbuktu, while Arab soldiers from the north were left to defend the city.

April

The next day, the rebels began attacking the outskirts of Timbuktu at dawn as reports indicated government soldiers deserted at least one of the bases. The attack occurred with the use of heavy arms and automatic weapons, which had been left by the Malian Army's deserters earlier. Al Jazeera reported the capture of Timbuktu the day an ECOWAS imposed 72-hour deadline to start returning to civilian rule was set to expire. The defence of the city was left mostly to local Arab militias as most of the Malian Army fled. The rebels were reported to be negotiating with the local militia. Xinhua confirmed that the MNLA entered the city. The BBC reported that the MNLA has taken over Timbuktu without much fighting. The MNLA's soldiers were celebrating their victory carrying their Azawad flag on their pick up trucks around the city. The Arab militia that stayed behind protected local businesses but did not fight the MNLA, but instead were seen with its members. It is not known if they joined the rebels or if they reached an agreement to let them enter the city.

The MNLA later claimed to have succeeded in the "full liberation" of the Timbuktu region (at an unknown date Ber was also captured). Kidal-based Colonel El Haji Ag Gamou of the Malian Army announced his defection to the MNLA with 500 of his troops. The MNLA's Azawad flag was seen flying over the governor's and mayor's offices, as well as over the main military camp. Timbuktu MP El Hadj Baba Haidara said the rebels "have arrived in the town. They are planting their flag." The spokesman for the MNLA's political wing Hama Ag Mahmoud said that: "Our objective is not to go further than the Azawad borders. We don't want to create problems for the government of Mali, and even less create problems in the sub-region. We don't want to give anyone the impression that we're gung-ho for the war, so from the moment we have liberated our territories, our objective is achieved, we stop there." He also added that the MNLA was "open to all...means of negotiations through [ECOWAS]."

The speed of capturing the larger town was read as a consequence of the instability in Bamako with the junta's hands bound between the rebels and the threat of economic sanctions by ECOWAS and others. In reaction to the capture of Timbuktu, France also warned its citizens to leave the city if there was not "essential" work.

Towns captured by rebels

Town	Date captured	Date lost	Date recaptured	Held by
Ménaka	16–17 January	18 January	1 February	MNLA
Aguelhok	17 January 24 January	18 January 25 January	?	?
Tessalit	17 January	18 January	11 March	MNLA
Andéramboukane	26 January			MNLA
Léré	26 January			MNLA
Tinzaouaten	8 February			MNLA
Niafunké	~February	February	?	?
Diré	~13 March (unsure if held)			?
Goundam	~13 March (unsure if held)			?
Anefis	23 March			MNLA
Kidal	30 March			Ansar Dine
Ansongo	30 March			MNLA
Bourem	30 March			MNLA
Gao	31 March			MNLA/Ansar Dine
Timbuktu	1 April			?
Ber	?			MNLA

Negotiations

In early February, 2012, talks were held in Algiers between Malian Foreign Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga and a Tuareg rebel group known as the 23 May 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change. The agreement called for a ceasefire and the opening of a dialogue. However, the MNLA rejected the agreement and said that they were not represented in these talks.

Malian president Touré set a deadline to quell the rebellion in the north saying that the military must win before the presidential election in April 2012. The Malian military announced that the MNLA had been pushed back near Kidal with the use of helicopters. However, in February, residents living in the north said that the election should not occur while there was a lack of security, yet Mali was under international pressure not to stymie the electoral process as Touré said the election would go ahead. The President of the National Assembly and a candidate in the election, Dioncounda Traore, also warned that a failure to go ahead with the election could lead to a coup d'etat.

On 24 March, Amadou Sanogo, the leader of the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State, announced his intention to seek peace talks with the MNLA. Negotiations were reportedly taking place in Niger.

Reactions

ECOWAS warned the rebels and asked its member states to send logistical support to Mali, while also trying to negoitiate a ceasefire. Mauritania denied working with Mali to quell the uprising, however President Abdel Aziz, along with Malian officials, claimed the MLNA worked with AQIM, and cited the alleged massacre of soldiers. Algeria withdrew military advisors and suspended military aid to Mali at the end of January to increase pressure on the government as it also tried to mediate a resolution to the conflict.

On a 26 February visit to Bamako, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé suggested the government of Mali negotiate with the MNLA, however he was criticised for trying to legitimise a rebellion seen in the south as sectarian opportunists. During a meeting in Brussels, Belgium in late March the Political Affairs Committee of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, its co-presidents issued a statement condemning the violence and correlating the events with the aftermath of the Libyan civil war. In reaction to the rebellion and the coup, Siaka Diakite, the secretary-general of UNTM, said that "everywhere it is burning. Mali cannot fight on all fronts at the same time...Let us put our personal quarrels aside" and called on Sanogo to adhere to an ECOWAS imposed deadline to return power to civilian rule. His statement was backed by the political parties that opposed the coup. After the coup and the advances by the rebels, the United States followed a warning that the region was becoming an Al Qaeda base with its support of ECOWAS' efforts as it was further worried by the rebel advances.

Amongst the media reactions to the uprising, Agence France-Presse was accused by Andy Morgan of Think Africa Press of uncritically accepting the government portrayal of the rebels as "armed bandits," "drug traffickers" and "Qaddafi mercenaries". Social media amongst the Tuareg diaspora was reported to be euphoric at the imminent "liberation," while those in southern Mali were strongly against what they called "bandits" in the north whom they said should be "killed." The Malian press was also quick to criticise the uprising.

See also

• Aftermath of the 2011 Libyan civil war
• List of modern conflicts in North Africa
• List of coups d'état and coup attempts since 2010

Further reading

• Emerson, Stephen A. (2011). "Desert insurgency: lessons from the third Tuareg rebellion". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 22 (4): 669–687. doi:10.1080/09592318.2011.573406.
• Lecocq, Jean Sebastian (2010). Disputed Desert: Decolonisation, Competing Nationalisms and Tuareg Rebellions in Northern Mali. Afrika-Studiecentrum series. Vol. 19. Leiden. ISBN 978-90-04-13983-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)