Tuareg Rebels Await a Battle Against the French/Malian Troops
revolutions, reformations, and rebellions
Jack Kolb
When one thinks of Mali, usually not much comes to mind. "A sandy country somewhere in Africa I guess, I don't know.". That was the responce given by one student. This country, the ninth largest in Africa, has been plagued with rebellions, low literacy rates, and political unstability since its independence in 1960. Surprisingly, with all of these conflicts, Mali's issues have yet to reach mainstream knowledge, however over the past few years a new and terrible crisis has spread like a shadow of terror across the lands of this former French colony.
Over the past few years the vast deserts of Mali have been constantly under the terror of multiple Terrorist and Rebel factions, and while so far the French have supplied much military support to the government they are now withdrawing troops, causing much uncertainty and fear within Malian citizens. The current political situations in Mali are very unstable and unpredictable, with many rebellious groups, mainly the Tuareg and the Jihadi, fighting the government and displacing hundreds of thousands of people. The Tuareg are a large group of militants with nomadic origins who have been fighting to form their own Tuareg state named Azawad in northern Mali for the past 50 years. "Last January, a rebel group led by ethnic Tuareg called the MNLA (National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad) began capturing cities and towns in north Mali. Their objective was to create an independent — secular — state in the north." (Paoletta, 2014). While they have rebelled twice, the Malian government army has been victorious so far, however this time they may not be able to remain in control of the conflict.
An overview of the war-ridden past, present, and future of the Malian people
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