Azawad

Azawad, (Tuareg: ⴰⵣⴰⵓⴰⴷ; Arabic: أزواد) officially known as the Independent State of Azawad, was a short-lived unrecognised state lasting from 2012–2013. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) unilaterally declared independence in 2012, after a Tuareg rebellion drove the Malian Armed Forces away from the region. Azawad, as claimed by the MNLA, comprised the Malian regions of Timbuktu (including present-day Taoudénit Region), Kidal, Gao, as well as a part of Mopti Region, encompassing about 60 percent of Mali's total land area. Gao is its largest city and served as the temporary capital, while Timbuktu is the second-largest city, and was intended to be the capital by the independence forces. On 6 April 2012, in a statement posted to its website, the MNLA declared "irrevocably" the independence of Azawad from Mali. In Gao on the same day, Bilal Ag Acherif, the secretary-general of the MNLA, signed the Azawadian declaration of independence, which also declared the MNLA as the interim administrators of Azawad until a "national authority" could be formed. Acherif subsequently became "president of the transitional council". The proclamations were never recognised by any foreign entity, and the MNLA's claim to have de facto control of the Azawad region was disputed by both the Malian government and Islamist insurgent groups in the Sahara. At this time, a rift was developing with the Islamists. The Economic Community of West African States, which refused to recognise Azawad and called the declaration of its independence "null and void", warned it could send troops into the disputed region in support of the Malian claim. Tuareg military leader Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, affiliated with the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad, claimed that jihadi groups, and the Ansar Dine in particular, had been in the region of Azawad for 10 years before the circumstances which...