France
122-584: Tuareg guerrillas Supported by: The Kaocen revolt ( Kabyle : Tagrawla n Kawsen ) was a Tuareg rebellion against French colonial rule of the area around the Aïr Mountains of northern Niger during 1916–17. Ag Mohammed Wau Teguidda Kaocen (1880–1919) was the Tuareg leader of the rising against the French. An adherent to the militantly anti-French Sanusiya Sufi religious order, Kaocen
244-665: A French expedition led by Paul Flatters in 1881. Over decades of fighting, Tuareg broadswords were no match for the firearms of French troops. After numerous massacres on both sides, the Tuareg were defeated and forced to sign treaties in Mali in 1905 and Niger in 1917. In southern Algeria, the French met some of the strongest resistance from the Ahaggar Tuareg. Their Amenokal chief Moussa ag Amastan fought numerous battles, but eventually Tuareg territories were subdued under French governance. French colonial administration of
366-584: A Kidal base, and in late June the Malian Army killed 20 rebels near the Algerian border, which the army claimed was home to a major rebel base. But just days later, President Amadou Toumani Touré announced that he remained open to negotiations with the Tuareg rebels, while at the same time agreeing to a joint-security deal with Algeria. On 18 July, rebels overran a military post at Tessalit , taking 20 prisoners in addition to many supplies. In Mali, where
488-406: A blend of pre-Islamic and Islamic practices. Patrilineal Muslim values are believed to have been superimposed upon the Tuareg's traditional matrilineal society. Other apparently newer customs include close-cousin endogamous marriages and polygyny in conformity with Islamic tenets. Polygyny, which has been witnessed among Tuareg chiefs and Islamic scholars, is in turn thought to have been contrary to
610-455: A distinct group known as izeggaghan (or hartani in Arabic). Their origins are unclear but they often speak both Tuareg dialects and Arabic, though a few communities are Songhay speakers. Traditionally, these local peasants were subservient to the warrior nobles who owned the oasis and the land. The peasants tilled these fields, whose output they gave to the nobles after keeping a fifth part of
732-665: A factional split among the rebels, brought a negotiated ceasefire and amnesty in May 2009. Attacks beginning in February 2007 by the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) targeted outposts of the Nigerien Armed Forces and foreign economic interests. The group said they were fighting for greater economic development and a share in the region's mineral wealth, an end to alleged pollution caused by and poverty surrounding
854-575: A hostage seizure and land-mine attacks (for which the rebels deny responsibility), the MNJ appeared no closer to either defeat or overthrow of the Nigerien government as the rainy season approached in August 2008. The return and then splintering away from the main rebel group of factional leaders from the 1990s conflict complicated the situation in 2008. One group joined the rebels, only to be expelled and sign
976-570: A large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists , who principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria , Niger , Mali , and Burkina Faso , as far as northern Nigeria . The Tuareg speak languages of the same name , also known as Tamasheq , which belong to the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family . They are
1098-455: A mediator by the Malian government led many to believe that low-scale fighting with those Tuareg factions who had renounced the 2006 accords might end completely. The Malian government also called on neighboring Algeria to help negotiate peace, patrol the deserted border region, and resupply its northern military bases On 18 July, just two days after rebels overran a military post, a peace deal
1220-490: A mix of admiration and distrust. According to Rasmussen, the Tuareg castes are not only hierarchical, as each caste differs in mutual perception, food and eating behaviors. For example, she relates an explanation by a smith on why there is endogamy among Tuareg castes in Niger. The smith explained, "nobles are like rice, smiths are like millet, slaves are like corn". The people who farm oases in some Tuareg-dominated areas form
1342-403: A new mine outside Arlit, but even prior to this conflict, it was not expected to be operational for a number of years. On 6 July 2007, an official from Sino-U was kidnapped by the rebels, but later released, and all work at Teguida stopped. Throughout July, the Niger government and Areva came into direct conflict, each accusing the other of supporting the rebels. The French state broadcaster RFI
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#17327581541421464-448: A noble, forms a confederation whose chieftain, the amănokal , is elected from among the nobles by the tribal chiefs. The chieftain is the overlord during times of war, and receives tribute and taxes from tribes as a sign of their submission to his authority. The vassal-herdsmen are the second free stratum within Tuareg society, occupying a position just below that of the nobles. They are known as ímɣad ( Imghad , singular Amghid ) in
1586-605: A peace deal with the Bamako government. Malian Tuareg former insurgents took part in a long series of peace processes, splintering, and raids between formal peace in 1995 and 2006. The peace deals which ended the 1990s Tuareg insurgency in Mali created a new self-governing region, Kidal Region , and provided opportunities for Malian Tuaregs to join the central government in Bamako and the Malian Armed Forces . Unlike
1708-401: A peace deal with the government of Niger. Another faction, which seemed to have been involved in the political front, appeared and quickly split in early 2008. Irregular fighting and raids occurred throughout late 2008, but these were mostly limited to the rebel strongholds in the Aïr Mountains . Suppression of domestic and international press access, as well as the expulsion of aid agencies from
1830-697: A return to the disarmament agreed in 2008, and began being processed for integration into the Malian Armed Forces in camps near Kidal . Both conflicts were brought under increased international attention following the kidnapping in late 2008 in Niger of two Canadian diplomats and four European tourists by groups associated with Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb , who held their victims somewhere in northern Mali. Libya, Algeria, Mali, and Niger pledged in March 2009 to cooperate to secure
1952-522: A semi-nomadic people who mostly practice Islam , and are descended from the indigenous Berber communities of Northern Africa, whose ancestry has been described as a mosaic of local Northern African ( Taforalt ), Middle Eastern , European ( Early European Farmers ), and Sub-Saharan African , prior to the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb . Some researchers have tied the origin of the Tuareg ethnicity with
2074-452: A series of raids, the largest taking place at the end of March. Rebel forces attacked a convoy near Abeibara in the east, killing 7 and capturing 20 soldiers and four military vehicles. On 4 April ceasefire and prisoner exchange was negotiated again through Libya, but each side accused the others of failing to end hostilities, and more sporadic attacks on Army positions occurred in May. In early June, rebels killed 25 soldiers in an attack on
2196-521: A settlement with the Malian government in July 2007. On 28 August, Tuareg gunmen captured a military convoy 50 km from the town of Tinsawatene , near the border with Algeria. Both the Malian government and the general populace appeared shocked by the level of violence in the north of Kidal , Ménaka and the Sahel region , as well as by the effectiveness of the rebel force, which the government claimed
2318-525: A spike in mines laid in populated areas. On 9 January 2008, the first violence was reported in Niamey , the capital, some 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the conflict zone. Abdou Mohamed Jeannot , the director of Niger's first independent radio station, Radio R & M ( Radio and Music ) was killed after driving over a landmine in Yantala , a suburb west of Niamey. Mahamane, who was also the vice president of
2440-519: Is exacerbated by over-exploitation of resources including firewood. This has pushed some Tuareg to experiment with farming; some have been forced to abandon herding and seek jobs in towns and cities. Following the independence of Mali, a Tuareg uprising broke out in the Adrar N'Fughas mountains in the 1960s, joined by Tuareg groups from the Adrar des Iforas in northeastern Mali. The Malian Army suppressed
2562-475: Is inherited, with the descendants of the slaves known as irewelen . They often live in communities separate from other castes. The Ikelan's Nilotic extraction is denoted via the Ahaggar Berber word Ibenheren (sing. Ébenher ). Tuareg rebellion (2007%E2%80%932009) 2006 2007-2009 The 2007-2009 Tuareg rebellion was an insurgency that began in February 2007 amongst elements of
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#17327581541422684-531: Is largely dependent on tourism and uranium mining. While tourism was threatened by the insurgency, uranium mining, which accounts for 16 percent of Niger's GDP and 72 percent of national export proceeds, became of central importance in the conflict. In October 2006, Tuareg leader Boutali Tchiwerin issued a statement condemning the ecological impact and lack of jobs from the Arlit-based mining industry. The MNJ has echoed these statements repeatedly, and attacked
2806-470: Is that Tuareg is derived from Tuwariq , the plural of the Arabic exonym Tariqi . The term for a Tuareg man is Amajagh (variants: Amashegh , Amahagh ), the term for a woman Tamajaq (variants: Tamasheq , Tamahaq , Timajaghen ). Spellings of the appellation vary by Tuareg dialect. They all reflect the same linguistic root, expressing the notion of "freemen". As such, the endonym strictly refers only to
2928-504: The Agadez Region by the government has meant that there was little independent confirmation of the situation in northern Niger throughout 2008. The Nigerien rebels pursued a strategy of expanding the ethnic makeup of their forces, and attempted—with little success in the south—to broaden the insurgency into a social movement to replace the current government and provide the population with a share in Niger's growing mining sector. By
3050-546: The Aïr, including Ingall , Assodé , and Aouderas , placing what is today northern Niger under rebel control for over three months. Finally on 3 March 1917, a large French force, which had been dispatched from Zinder , relieved the Agadez garrison and began to seize the rebel towns. Large-scale French reprisals were taken against the towns, especially against local marabouts even though many were not Tuareg and had not supported
3172-648: The French nuclear weapons program , is dependent on uranium mined at Arlit. In June and July 2007, the head of Areva's Niger operations Dominique Pin and his security chief Gilles Denamur , a retired colonel in the French Army and former military attaché to the French embassy in Niger, came into the spotlight. Pin admitted that the April attacks had caused them to cease operations for a month, and his security chief said that landmines prevented ore shipments. The MNJ, on
3294-800: The Songhay Empire in 1500 CE, or even the first migrations of Berber Tuaregs south into the Aïr in the 11th to 13th centuries CE. Conflicts have persisted since independence, with major Tuareg risings in Mali's Adrar des Ifoghas during 1963–64, the 1990s insurgencies in both Mali and Niger, and a renewed series of insurgencies beginning in the mid-2000s (see Second Tuareg Rebellion ). 18°16′37″N 7°59′58″E / 18.2769°N 7.9994°E / 18.2769; 7.9994 Tuareg people The Tuareg people ( / ˈ t w ɑːr ɛ ɡ / ; also spelled Twareg or Touareg ; endonym : Imuhaɣ / Imušaɣ / Imašeɣăn / Imajeɣăn ) are
3416-497: The Tuareg people living in the Sahara desert regions of northern Mali and Niger . It is one of a series of insurgencies by formerly nomadic Tuareg populations, which had last appeared in the mid-1990s, and date back at least to 1916. Populations dispersed to Algeria and Libya , as well as to the south of Niger and Mali in the 1990s returned only in the late 1990s. Former fighters were to be integrated into national militaries, but
3538-400: The amghar . A series of tawsheten (plural of tawshet ) may bond together under an Amenokal , forming a Kel clan confederation. Tuareg self-identification is related only to their specific Kel , which means "those of". For example, Kel Dinnig (those of the east), Kel Ataram (those of the west). The position of amghar is hereditary through a matrilineal principle; it is usual for
3660-477: The jedar sepulchres, were erected for religious and funerary practices. In 1926, one such tomb was discovered south of Casablanca . The monument was engraved with funerary inscriptions in the ancient Libyco-Berber writing script known as Tifinagh , which the Tuareg still use. During the medieval period, the Tuareg adopted Islam after its arrival with the Umayyad Caliphate in the 7th century. In
3782-531: The 12th century. It flourished under the protection and rule of a Tuareg confederation. However, modern scholars believe that there is insufficient evidence to pinpoint the exact time of origin and founders of Timbuktu, although it is archeologically clear that the city originated from local trade between the Middle Niger Delta, on the one hand, and between the pastoralists of the Sahara, long before
Kaocen revolt - Misplaced Pages Continue
3904-553: The 16th century, under the tutelage of El Maghili, the Tuareg embraced the Maliki school of Sunni Islam, which they now primarily follow. The Tuareg helped spread Islam further into the Western Sudan . While Islam is the religion of the contemporary Tuareg, historical documents suggest that they initially resisted Islamization efforts in their traditional strongholds. According to the anthropologist Susan Rasmussen, after
4026-586: The 1990s commander Lyad Ag Ghaly , denounced the 2007 violence and called on the Bahanga group to cease their attacks and offered to negotiate on behalf of the Bamako government. After the February 2007 attack on a Nigerian Army detachment in the north of the country that killed 3 soldiers, sporadic attacks occurred around Iférouane, Arlit and Ingall . On 18 April, the MNJ was formally announced as having organised, and attacks picked up in June and July. Landmines on
4148-678: The 1995 and 1996 agreements. As of 2004, sporadic fighting continued in Niger between government forces and Tuareg rebels. In 2007, a new surge in violence occurred. The development of Berberism in North Africa in the 1990s fostered a Tuareg ethnic revival. Since 1998, three different flags have been designed to represent the Tuareg. In Niger, the Tuareg people remain socially and economically marginalized, remaining poor and unrepresented in Niger's central government. On 21 March 2021, IS-GS militants attacked several villages around Tillia , Niger, killing 141 people. The main victims of
4270-418: The 19th century. Others were driven to revolt by the severe drought of the years 1911–14, by French taxation and seizure of camels to aid other conquests, and by French abolition of the slave trade, leading many previously subservient settled communities of the area to themselves revolt against traditional rule and taxation by the nomadic Tuareg. Memory of the revolt and the killings in its wake remain fresh in
4392-508: The French military that the Tuareg confederations remained loyal, and with his help, Kaocen's forces placed the garrison under siege on 17 December 1916. Tuareg raiders, numbering over 1,000, led by Kaocen and his brother Mokhtar Kodogo , and armed with repeating rifles and one cannon seized from the Italians in Libya , defeated several French relief columns. They seized all the major towns of
4514-508: The Lemta and the Zarawa, along with other fellow pastoral Berbers. Further invasions of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym Arab tribes into Tuareg regions in the 11th century moved the Tuareg south into seven clans, which the oral tradition of Tuaregs claims are descendants of the same mother. Each Tuareg clan ( tawshet ) is made up of family groups constituting a tribe, each led by its chief,
4636-413: The MNJ began mine attacks against civilians in the southern towns of Tahoua , Dosso and Maradi , areas previously far from the fighting. The MNJ denied targeting civilians, and made counter claims that government militia had continued indiscriminate attacks on Tuareg communities in the north. Western press sources claimed that the rebels were responsible for laying mines that hit Army vehicles, as well as
4758-554: The MNJ released a communique saying the Tuareg Cure Salee festival, which draws increasing numbers of foreign tourists, should be canceled. On 24 August 2007 Niger's president Mamadou Tandja declared a state of alert in the Agadez Region , giving the security forces extra powers to fight the insurgency. This marks only the third such declaration in the history of the Republic. It was unclear by late September whether
4880-515: The Malian army on 18 September, and that the rebels had withdrawn. At the same time, a series of storms hit the Sahel region, running all the way to Ethiopia . These storms caused unusually severe flooding and damage and endangered those internally displaced by the conflict in Mali and Niger, as well as displaced persons fleeing other conflicts in Chad , Darfur and Ethiopia . Any military action in
5002-514: The Minister of Tourism Rhissa ag Boula in February 2004 and his March 2005 release after being held in jail for more than a year on suspicion of involvement in a political murder, while Mano Dayak , a Tuareg leader and negotiator who led the Tuareg rebellion in the Tenere region died in a suspicious plane crash in 1995. Niger's Tuaregs continued to watch the development and economic activities of
Kaocen revolt - Misplaced Pages Continue
5124-621: The Niger ex-combatants, who appeared successfully integrated into national the Nigerien Armed Forces, small numbers of Malian Tuaregs remained restive, complaining of the Kidal region's poverty. Some were involved in cross border smuggling, and crime was endemic in the region. A splinter faction of the Tuareg ex-combatants rose as the ADC in 2006. After agreeing to a ceasefire, these forces apparently splintered further in 2007. Attacks in
5246-470: The Nigerien government under Libyan auspices from March to June 2009. All sides pledged an immediate ceasefire in May 2009, while pursuing talks for a permanent peace and an amnesty for all former rebels. Niger rebels claimed that their government failed to honor a 1995 peace deal, which ended the 1990s Tuareg insurgency and promised them a bigger share of the region's mineral wealth. Nigerien Tuareg leaders and some Non Government Organisations have claimed
5368-470: The Saharan borders where Tuareg rebels and AQIM militants, as well as smugglers and criminal gangs, operated. In Niger, fighting flared after a Ramadan truce in 2007, with land-mine attacks and incursions reaching areas in the south and center of the nation previously unaffected. The Nigerien government , rejecting any negotiations, pursued a crackdown on rebel forces and declared a state of emergency in
5490-570: The Sahel between the 7th and 17th centuries. Adherence to the faith was initially centered around this caste, but later spread to the wider Tuareg community. The marabouts have traditionally been the judges ( qadi ) and religious leaders ( imam ) of a Tuareg community. According to anthropologist Jeffrey Heath, Tuareg artisans belong to separate endogamous castes known as the Inhăḍăn ( Inadan ). These have included blacksmith, jeweler, wood worker and leather artisan castes. They produced and repaired
5612-456: The Sahel region is constrained by the tropical rain cycles, with the May to September rainy season making communication and transport in the region south of the Sahara difficult at the best of times. Both the Malian and Niger conflicts peaked during the dry season on 2007–2008, beginning at the end of 2007 and ending in May 2008. Major conflict in Mali spiked in August and September 2007 as the rains ended and pastoralists moved their herds. Following
5734-435: The Tuareg nobility , not the artisanal client castes and the slaves. Two other Tuareg self-designations are Kel Tamasheq , meaning "speakers of Tamasheq ", and Kel Tagelmust , meaning "veiled people" in allusion to the tagelmust garment that is traditionally worn by Tuareg men. The English exonym "Blue People" is similarly derived from the indigo color of the tagelmust veils and other clothing, which sometimes stains
5856-500: The Tuareg had adopted the religion, they were reputedly lax in their prayers and observances of other Muslim precepts. Some of their ancient beliefs still exist today subtly within their culture and tradition, such as elements of pre-Islamic cosmology and rituals, particularly among Tuareg women, or the widespread "cult of the dead", which is a form of ancestor veneration . For example, Tuareg religious ceremonies contain allusions to matrilineal spirits, as well as to fertility, menstruation,
5978-432: The Tuareg language. Although the vassals were free, they did not own camels but instead kept donkeys and herds of goats, sheep and oxen. They pastured and tended their own herds as well those owned by the nobles of the confederation. The vassal strata have traditionally paid an annual tiwse , or tribute to the nobles as a part of their status obligations, and hosted any noble who was traveling through their territory. In
6100-677: The Tuareg moved southward from the Tafilalt region into the Sahel under the Tuareg founding queen Tin Hinan , who is believed to have lived between the 4th and 5th centuries. The matriarch's 1,500-year-old monumental Tin Hinan tomb is located in the Sahara at Abalessa in the Hoggar Mountains of southern Algeria. Vestiges of an inscription in Tifinagh , the Tuareg's traditional Libyco-Berber writing script, have been found on one of
6222-497: The Tuareg people ". This seemed to step back from the previous demands for the removal of the current government. Agaly Alambo, from Iferouane in northern Niger, was apparently inspired by the Mali -based Tuareg group May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change ( French : 23 May 2006; Alliance démocratique pour le changement , ADC), ex-combatants who led a short campaign in the north of Mali from May to July 2006, when they signed
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#17327581541426344-414: The Tuareg was largely based on supporting the existing social hierarchy. The French concluded that Tuareg rebellions were largely the result of reform policies that undermined the traditional chiefs. The colonial authorities wished to create a protectorate operating, ideally, through single chieftains who ruled under French sovereignty, but were autonomous within their territories. Thus French rule, relying on
6466-443: The Tuareg, who kept their oral traditions . They are called Agguta by Tuareg, have been called upon to sing during ceremonies such as weddings or funerals. The origins of the artisanal castes are unclear. One theory posits a Jewish derivation, a proposal that Prasse calls "a much vexed question". Their association with fire, iron and precious metals and their reputation for being cunning tradesmen has led others to treat them with
6588-458: The ancient sepulchre's walls. External accounts of interactions with the Tuareg are available from at least the 10th century onwards. Ibn Hawkal (10th century), El-Bekri (11th century), Edrisi (12th century), Ibn Battutah (14th century), and Leo Africanus (16th century) all documented the Tuareg in some form, usually as Mulatthamin or "the veiled ones". Of the early historians, fourteenth century scholar Ibn Khaldûn probably wrote some of
6710-400: The beginning of 2009, rebel attempts to impinge upon Nigerien uranium production had, according to mining officials, little effect. The effects on the population of the north has been pronounced, with the regional capitol of Agadez hosting thousands of refugees, economic activity outside the towns grinding to a halt, and the destruction of a burgeoning foreign tourist industry in the north of
6832-522: The chief of the confederation. Historically, there have been seven major confederations. In the mid-19th century, descriptions of the Tuareg and their way of life were made by the English traveller James Richardson in his journeys across the Libyan Sahara in 1845–1846. In the late 19th century, the Tuareg resisted the French colonial invasion of their central Saharan homelands and annihilated
6954-525: The conflicts in the Saharan region during the colonial and post-colonial eras. The origins and meanings of the name Tuareg have long been debated. It would appear that Twārəg is derived from the broken plural of Tārgi , a name whose former meaning was "inhabitant of Targa ", the Tuareg name of the Libyan region commonly known as Fezzan . Targa in Berber means "(drainage) channel". Another theory
7076-535: The country. The 2009 peace in Mali was seen as a model for a February civil society conference in Niamey . In March 2009 a dramatic split of much of the MNJ leadership resulted in the former MNJ head fleeing to Libya, who aided delivering Nigerien Armed Forces prisoners home. The new Nigerien Patriotic Front (FPN), which contained much of the MNJ's fighters and leadership, called for a negotiated peace. They, along with an earlier splinter, entered into four-party talks with
7198-504: The demand for economic, political and environmental reforms. On 21 December 2007, Ahmed Akoli Akoli , then the political secretary of the MNJ, outlined the group's demands as decentralization and "ethnic balance", a greater share and transparency in the extraction of northern resources, with government and military in the north " recruited from the Tuareg population... and not an army consisting mainly of members of other ethnic clans who serve their own purposes, and who do not identify with
7320-500: The diplomatic intervention of other Malian Tuaregs, led to a new, unofficial ceasefire in December 2007. In April 2008, with the help of Libya, a formal ceasefire was declared, though it was quickly followed by new, retributive attacks from both sides. Resumed diplomatic and military pressure, with the intervention of Algerian diplomacy, brought what appeared to be a final reintegration of the Malian rebel factions in July 2008, along much
7442-404: The earth and ancestresses. Norris (1976) suggests that this apparent syncretism may stem from the influence of Sufi Muslim preachers on the Tuareg. The Tuaregs have been one of the influential ethnic groups in the spread of Islam and its legacy in North Africa and adjacent Sahel. Timbuktu , an important Islamic center famed for its ulama , was established by Imasheghen Tuareg at the start of
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#17327581541427564-442: The eastern dialect ( Tamajaq , Tawallammat ). The exact number of Tuareg speakers per territory is uncertain. The CIA estimates that the Tuareg population in Mali constitutes approximately 0.9% of the national population (~150,000), whereas about 3.5% of local inhabitants speak Tuareg (Tamasheq) as a primary language. In contrast, Imperato (2008) estimates that the Tuareg represent around 3% of Mali's population. In antiquity,
7686-555: The entire Niger Rapid Intervention Company , a special forces unit trained by the United States Military to conduct anti-terrorist operations in 2003–2006. There have also been reports that this same unit had been used to guard the mining operations in Arlit by the French mining conglomerate Areva NC , or that it (and the rebel movement) had been created by the government itself in order to ratchet up tension in
7808-491: The extreme northeast of Mali began to grow in number and intensity in August 2007, as reports appeared that the ADC splinter group, led by former combatant Ibrahim Ag Bahanga claimed these attackers had formally confederated with the Niger-based MNJ. The MNJ formally denied this, but witnesses of one kidnapping attack in Mali said the rebels had moved back towards the Niger border. Former Malian rebel leaders, notably
7930-481: The fall Cure Salee festival at Ingall . The government expected a greater share of the proceeds of these new mines than it has received from the Arlit operations dominated by the former colonial power. More than a dozen prospecting contracts have been offered to companies from Canada and Europe as well, and there are also worries amongst the French that the Arlit mines, nearing the end of their useful life, must soon be replaced by new concessions. Areva has begun work on
8052-573: The fall of the Garamantes who inhabited the Fezzan (Libya) from the 1st millennium BC to the 5th century AD. Tuareg people are credited with spreading Islam in North Africa and the adjacent Sahel region. Tuareg social structure has traditionally included clan membership, social status and caste hierarchies within each political confederation. The Tuareg have controlled several trans-Saharan trade routes and have been an important party to
8174-470: The far north. This splinter group, despite a series of daring raids deep into populated areas, were decisively defeated by the Malian Army during January 2009, supported by an increasing number of former rebels. In February 2009, elements surrounding Ag Bahanga again fled Mali for Libya , while both Libya and Algeria pledged support to end rebel attacks and support negotiations. ADC fighters negotiated
8296-418: The far-northeastern Kidal region . The Malian government, along with Tuareg leaders who had kept the 2006 ceasefire, pushed both a military and diplomatic strategy. In March, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya negotiated the release of Malian army prisoners held by the rebels, and sporadic talks were held with Libyan mediation. Malian armed forces remained in control of all the major settlements, but Malian rebels staged
8418-455: The final armed group signing up in 1998. The peace deal repatriating thousands of refugees and fighters, mostly from camps across the Libyan border. Large numbers of fighters were integrated into the Nigerien Armed Forces and, with French assistance, help others return to a productive civilian life. Controversy continued to revolve around Tuareg leaders brought into government, with the arrest of
8540-484: The first hijra . Monroe asserts, based on archaeological evidence, that Timbuktu emerged from an urban-rural dynamic, that is, aiming to provide services to its immediate rural hinterland . In 1449, a Tuareg ruling house founded the Tenere Sultanate of Aïr (Sultanate of Agadez) in the city of Agadez in the Aïr Mountains . 18th century Tuareg Islamic scholars such as Jibril ibn 'Umar later preached
8662-441: The government closely, especially in regards the Aïr Mountains ' burgeoning tourist trade, and Arlit 's recovering uranium industry. By 2000, sporadic banditry and attacks, ascribed to disaffected ex-combatants, began in the north. In 2007, a unified force of ex-combatants repudiated the 1995 accords and declared the formation of the MNJ. The Niger Movement for Justice ( French : Mouvement des Nigériens pour la justice , MNJ)
8784-450: The government combined military reinforcement of northern towns with diplomatic efforts using Malian Tuareg intermediaries, attacks subsided. Mali, continuing to suffer from flooding in the south, as well as global hikes in food prices, turned to international support, especially from Algeria, and seemed eager to engage domestic Tuaregs who continued to honor the 2006 cease-fire. The high-profile support of former rebel leader Iyad Ag Ghaly as
8906-443: The land, seeking instead soldiering or intellectual work. A semi-noble stratum of the Tuareg people has been the endogamous religious clerics, the marabouts (Tuareg: Ineslemen , a loan word that means Muslim in Arabic). After the adoption of Islam, they became integral to the Tuareg social structure. According to Norris (1976), this stratum of Muslim clerics has been a sacerdotal caste, which propagated Islam in North Africa and
9028-499: The late Medieval era, states Prasse, the previously existing weapon monopoly of the nobility broke down after regional wars took a heavy toll on the noble warrior strata, and thereafter the vassals carried weapons as well and were recruited as warriors. After the start of the French colonial rule, which deprived the nobles of their powers over war and taxation, the Tuaregs belonging to the noble strata disdained tending cattle and tilling
9150-540: The loyalty of the Tuareg noble caste, did not improve the status of the slave class. When African countries achieved widespread independence in the 1960s, the traditional Tuareg territory was divided among a number of modern states: Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya, and Burkina Faso. Political instability and competition for resources in the Sahel has since led to conflicts between the Tuareg and neighboring African groups. There have been tight restrictions placed on nomadic life because of high population growth . Desertification
9272-470: The majority ethnic group in the Kidal Region of northeastern Mali. The Tuareg traditionally speak the Tuareg languages , also known as Tamasheq, Tamajeq or Tamahaq , depending on the dialect. These languages belong to the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family . According to Ethnologue , there are an estimated 1.2 million Tuareg speakers. Around half of this number consists of speakers of
9394-468: The massacres were the Tuaregs. The Tuareg traditionally adhered to the Berber mythology . Archaeological excavations of prehistoric tombs in the Maghreb have yielded skeletal remains that were painted with ochre . Although this ritual practice was known to the Iberomaurusians , the custom seems instead to have been primarily derived from the ensuing Capsian culture . Megalithic tombs, such as
9516-474: The military of both countries followed, with deaths into the thousands. Negotiations initiated by France and Algeria led to peace agreements in January 1992 in Mali and in 1995 in Niger, both arranging for decentralization of national power and the integration of Tuareg resistance fighters into the countries' national armies. Major fighting between the Tuareg resistance and government security forces ended after
9638-420: The minds of modern Tuareg, to whom it is seen as both part of a large anti-colonial struggle, and amongst some as part of the post-independence struggle for autonomy from the existing governments of Niger and its neighbors. The Kaocen revolt can also be placed in a longer history of Tuareg conflict with ethnic Songhay and Hausa in the south central Sahara which goes back to at least the seizure of Agadez by
9760-473: The mining operations at Arlit . The area of Niger affected is home to some of the world's largest uranium deposits, and the French operated uranium mines of the desert town of Arlit account for a fifth of the world's uranium deposits and most of Niger's foreign exchange income. In September 2007, fighting shifted to Mali, with a portion of the Tuareg groups which had come under a 2006 ceasefire returning to combat. A swift Malian military response, coupled with
9882-535: The most detailed commentary on the life and people of the Sahara, though he apparently never actually met them. At the turn of the 19th century, the Tuareg territory was organised into confederations, each ruled by a supreme Chief ( Amenokal ), along with a council of elders from each tribe. These confederations were sometimes called " Drum Groups " after the Amenokal's symbol of authority, a drum. Clan ( Tewsit ) elders, called Imegharan (wisemen), were chosen to assist
10004-479: The national press association, Maison de la Presse , was not reported to have been vocal on the conflict, but his radio station had been banned by the government in 1998, and rebroadcasts western news reports in Niger, where western reporters have been highly restricted by the government and Radio France was accused by the government (July 2007) of siding with the rebels. The neighborhood is also reported to house many Army officers (which might conceivably have made it
10126-586: The nobles constitute the highest caste. They are known in the Tuareg language as imušaɣ/imuhaɣ/imajăɣăn "the proud and free". The nobles originally had a monopoly on carrying arms and owning camels, and were the warriors of the Tuareg regions. They may have achieved their social status by subjugating other Tuareg castes, keeping arms to defend their properties and vassals. They have collected tribute from their vassals. This warrior nobility has traditionally married within their caste, not to individuals in strata below their own. A collection of tribes, each led by
10248-435: The north which by December 2007 threatened to spark a humanitarian crisis. High-profile arrests of domestic and foreign media, the expulsion of European NGOs from the area, and the reported human rights practices of the Nigerien Armed Forces in the Agadez Region have led to criticism of the Nigerien government abroad, and continued fighting in the north. Despite government military victories in early 2008, and condemnation for
10370-428: The north, while 2,500 to 4,000 displaced people were estimated to have come to Agadez from the mostly Tuareg town of Iferouane , with the entire civilian population apparently fleeing after the army and rebels started fighting in the area in mid-2007. Humanitarian sources were quoted saying that the army was operating with little control and adding to—rather than suppressing—banditry, drug-trafficking and lawlessness in
10492-471: The north. In April 2008 the National Assembly of Niger passed a new anti-terror law giving broader powers of detention to the police and military. The law also strengthened penalties on a wide range offenses, including the manufacture or possession of explosive devices, hostage-taking, attacks on transport and unlawful possession of radioactive materials. The Nigerien government reported that
10614-403: The other hand, claimed that the government had been laying Chinese-made landmines throughout the region. Tensions between the French company and the government were longstanding. The government of Niger had concluded a deal with a Chinese state owned company China Nuclear International Uranium Corporation (SinoU) to begin mining at Teguida , in the midst of the Tuareg winter pasturing lands and
10736-561: The power station for a mining facility near Arlit in April 2007. In June 2007, land mines were laid on the main route the uranium ore from Arlit takes to the ports of Benin . All of Arlit's ore is processed and transported by a French company Areva NC , a holding of the Areva group, itself a state owned operation of the French Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA). The system of French nuclear power generation , as well as
10858-422: The pre-Islamic monogamous tradition of the nomadic Tuareg. Tuareg society has featured caste hierarchies within each clan and political confederation. These hierarchical systems have included nobles, clerics, craftsmen and unfree strata of people including widespread slavery. Traditionally, Tuareg society is hierarchical, with nobility and vassals. The linguist Karl-Gottfried Prasse (1995) indicates that
10980-489: The process has been slow and caused increased resentment. Malian Tuaregs had conducted some raids in 2005–2006, which ended in a renewed peace agreement. Fighting in both nations was carried on largely in parallel, but not in concert. While fighting was mostly confined to guerrilla attacks and army counterattacks, large portions of the desert north of each nation were no-go zones for the military and civilians fled to regional capitals like Kidal , Mali and Agadez , Niger. Fighting
11102-484: The process, the Malian government, as well as Tuareg leaders on both sides of the conflict, publicly pushed for a negotiated settlement, in contrast with the Nigerien conflict. Cherif Ouazani was quoted in Algeria as describing the talks as "Malians talking to Malians" While the last of the rebel-held prisoners were released in August, and the ceasefire held as of the end of that month, there continued to be speculation on
11224-713: The produce. Their Tuareg patrons were usually responsible for supplying agricultural tools, seed and clothing. The peasants' origins are also unclear. One theory postulates that they are descendants of ancient people who lived in the Sahara before they were dominated by invading groups. In contemporary times, these peasant strata have blended in with freed slaves and farm arable lands together. The Tuareg confederations acquired slaves, often of Nilotic origin, as well as tribute-paying states in raids on surrounding communities. They also took captives as war booty or purchased slaves in markets. The slaves or servile communities are locally called Ikelan (or Iklan , Eklan ), and slavery
11346-579: The rebellion. Summary public executions by the French in Agadez and Ingall alone totaled 130. Tuareg rebels also carried out a number of atrocities. While Kaocen fled north, he was hanged by local forces in Mourzouk in 1919, and Mokhtar Kodogo was killed by the French in 1920, when a revolt that he led amongst the Toubou and Fula in the Sultanate of Damagaram was defeated. The revolt led by Kaocen
11468-405: The rebels would be released, amnesties were promised for rebels, and re-integration into the military along the lines of the 2006 deal was promised for Tuareg fighters. This agreement held throughout 2008, and by the end of the year the Malian conflict seemed resolved. This was also a success for Algeria as a regional power, and rival of the Libyan government for influence in the Sahara. Throughout
11590-517: The region and thereby secure Western military aid. In March 2006, Malian army officer Hassan ag Fagaga, of Tuareg origins, defected from his post with a number of his men, also of Tuareg origins, On 17 May, an attack was launched on the Malian Army at Tin Zawaten , near the meeting of the Mali, Algerian, and Niger borders. On 22 May 2006, a number of former Tuareg rebel, including Hassan ag Fagaga and Ibrahim ag Bahanga intensified their campaign with
11712-411: The release of soldiers kidnapped by the MNJ, and the situation appeared to be calming. Despite that hopeful sign, it appeared that the tourist center of Agadez (well to the southeast of Arlit) could be empty during the fall/winter 2007 tourist season. On 30 August, the largest tourist air carrier running flights from Europe to Agadez announced it would suspend flights for the 2007 tourist season, and
11834-616: The revolt, but resentment among the Tuareg fueled further uprisings. This second (or third) uprising was in May 1990. In the aftermath of a clash between government soldiers and Tuareg outside a prison in Tchin-Tabaraden , Niger, Tuareg in both Mali and Niger claimed independence for their traditional homeland: Ténéré in Niger, including their capital Agadez , and the Azawad and Kidal regions of Mali. Deadly clashes between Tuareg fighters, with leaders such as Mano Dayak , and
11956-544: The road between Iférouane and Arlit cut off both towns and threatened the bring the lucrative uranium mining industry to a halt. Between 18 and 22 June, Niger experienced the most daring and deadliest attacks to that point in the conflict. MNJ rebels attacked the airport at Agadez , the second most important in the country and a center of Niger's tourism industry, though they did little damage. On 22 June rebels attacked an isolated army post at Tezirzaït , killing 15 soldiers and taking 70 hostages. The economy of northern Niger
12078-548: The role played by presumed Mai 23 leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga , who had not participated in the Algerian sponsored tripartite talks. Press speculation theorised a split in the already fractured movement, in which Toureg groups loyal to the Kel Adagh had fully participated in the eventual peace process, which seemed to have resolved the conflict since August 2008. Meanwhile, a smaller group around Ag Bahanga had been holding out for Libyan-sponsored mediation, and eventually abandoned
12200-472: The saddles, tools, household items and other items for the Tuareg community. In Niger and Mali, where the largest Tuareg populations are found, the artisan castes were attached as clients to a family of nobles or vassals, carried messages over distances for their patron family, and traditionally sacrificed animals during Islamic festivals . These social strata, like caste systems found in many parts of West Africa, included singers, musicians and story tellers of
12322-417: The same lines of the 2006 peace plan. After both Libyan and Algerian sponsored peace talks, Malian rebel leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga relocated to Libya and the remaining Malian rebels and government concluded a settlement to the conflict. In December 2008, Ag Bahanga's faction of the ADC ( Alliance Touareg Nord Mali pour le Changement , ATNMC) returned to conflict in a series of attacks and counterattacks in
12444-586: The same time, former rebel commander—and father-in-law of Bahanga— Hama Ag Sidahmed announced the creation of a Niger-Mali Tuareg alliance (the Alliance-Touareg-Niger-Mali, ATNM ), though this was denied by another group, claiming to represent the ARC. On 13 September, a United States military aircraft was fired on by Tuareg rebels at Tin-Zaouatene , Mali, where the town remained surrounded by rebel forces for at least four days. A C-130 aircraft
12566-450: The siege of Kidal, fighting remained sporadic in Mali after the beginning of 2008, but continued heavily in Niger. As the dry season began, unusual rains struck Mali and Niger with particular ferocity. As a result, the governments of the two nations began to take markedly different strategies for confronting the Tuareg rebellion. In March 2008, Mali again saw an upsurge in attacks committed by fragments of former Tuareg combatant groups in
12688-604: The simultaneous seizing of arms and material from the military bases in Menaka and Kidal, after which the assailants took to the former rebel bases from the 1990s in the Tigharghar mountains of the Kidal region. Mali saw the more dramatic upsurge in August 2007, as a spate of attacks began in northeast Mali against members of the Malian military. The Niger-based MNJ said that it has formally allied splinter elements of Tuareg rebel group which has remained on ceasefire since reaching
12810-414: The situation calmed diplomatically, the attacks by the MNJ escalated and ebbed unpredictably. Iférouane, on the western cusp of the Aïr Mountains , and a center of both Tuareg culture and tourist visits had up to 80 percent of its population moved south by the government in August. The MNJ and the government promised safe access to refugees and aid, and on 4 August, Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi brokered
12932-455: The situation or delivering aid as both sides in the fighting reported that the conflict was continuing to escalate. Humanitarian agencies in Niamey estimated in early December that there were around 11,000 people displaced by the fighting, in addition to the 9,000 Nigeriens who lost their homes in heavy flooding. Doctors Without Borders claimed that no aid was being delivered by the government in
13054-555: The skin underneath giving it a blueish tint. Another term for the Tuareg is Imuhagh or Imushagh , a cognate to the northern Berber self-name Imazighen . The Tuareg today inhabit a vast area in the Sahara , stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and the far north of Nigeria. Their combined population in these territories exceeds 2.5 million, with an estimated population in Niger of around 2 million (11% of inhabitants) and in Mali of another 0.5 million (3% of inhabitants). The Tuareg are
13176-452: The son of a sister of the incumbent chieftain to succeed to his position. The amenokal is elected in a ritual which differs between groups. The individual amghar who lead the clans making up the confederation usually have the deciding voice. The matrilineal inheritance and mythology among Tuareg clans, states Susan Rasmussen, is a cultural vestige from the pre-Islamic era of the Tuareg society. According to Rasmussen, Tuareg society exhibits
13298-446: The talks and sought refuge in Libya. In Niger, the government strategy was to continue military pressure on the MNJ, declaring them criminal gangs with whom they will have no negotiations. As the MNJ was apparently the larger and more organized of the two rebel forces, much of the northern regions of the country remained under emergency decrees. Press and international aid agencies complained that they had been prevented from monitoring
13420-642: The value of revolutionary jihad. Inspired by these teachings, Ibn 'Umar's student Usman dan Fodio led the Sokoto jihads and established the Sokoto Caliphate . Tuareg society has traditionally featured clan membership, social status and caste hierarchies within each political confederation. Clans have been a historic part of the Tuaregs. The 7th century invasion of North Africa from the Middle East triggered an extensive migration of Tuaregs such as
13542-456: The violence had lessened in northern Niger as a result of negotiations with the MNJ, or whether new violence was simply being effectively suppressed. Organisations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists reported the arrest without trial of over 100 northerners in the wake of the declaration, including those who tried to lead a peace march in Agadez. In July, the only daily paper in Agadez
13664-568: The violence of February 2007 was the culmination of widespread disaffection amongst Tuareg ex-combatants with the slow progress of promised benefits, lack of functioning democratic institutions, and a perceived special status given to foreign mining interests and southern political leaders. As part of an initiative started under a 1991 National Conference , the peace accords of 15 April 1995 with all Tuareg (and some Toubou ) rebel groups were negotiated with Government of Niger in Ouagadougou ,
13786-459: The work of small-scale "bandits" and drug-trafficking gangs, and also suggested "foreign interests" (or the French mining company Areva, specifically) were funding the rebel forces. Three newspapers in Niger which speculated that Libya might be behind the rebel group were threatened with legal action by the Libyan government. On the other hand, the MNJ statements portrayed their movement as Niger-wide (as opposed to Tuareg nationalism) and limited to
13908-420: Was air-dropping supplies to Malian troops when it was hit, but returned safely to base. United States officials did not say if they would continue to re-supply the Malian Army, but one official said the "occurrence was not regular". The same reports also alleged that several unnamed army posts in the far northeast were similarly surrounded. The international press reported that Tin-Zaouatene was being reinforced by
14030-574: Was announced, revealing that Algeria had been hosting talks between the government of Mali and the leadership of the "Alliance démocratique du 23 mai". The Algerian ambassador to Mali, Abdelkrim Ghrieb , had negotiated the deal, between Amada Ag Bibi (a Malian Tuareg Deputy in the Malian National Assembly ) for the rebels and General Kafougouna Koné , Malian Minister of the Interior, for the Malian government. 92 prisoners held by
14152-648: Was ejected from the country for a month on 19 July 2007, and in short succession both Pin and Denamur were ordered to leave Niger. On 1 August, the Niamey government announced it would end all contracts with Areva, and bring in the Chinese to manage the existing operations. High level French diplomats flew to Niger and brokered a climb down, in which the Areva contracts would be extended in exchange for greater French aid to Niamey. The French paper Le Monde expressed doubts about this deal, calling it "Expensive uranium." While
14274-525: Was just one episode in a history of recurring conflict between some Tuareg confederations and the French. In 1911, a rising of Firhoun, Amenokal of Ouelimaden was crushed in Ménaka , only to reappear in northeast Mali after his escape from French custody in 1916. Many Tuareg groups had continually fought the French (and the Italians after their 1911 invasion of Libya) since their arrival in the last decade of
14396-407: Was largely contained within Mali's Kidal Region and Niger's Agadez Region . Algeria helped negotiate an August 2008 Malian peace deal, which was broken by a rebel faction in December, crushed by the Malian military and wholescale defections of rebels to the government. Niger saw heavy fighting and disruption of uranium production in the mountainous north, before a Libyan backed peace deal, aided by
14518-569: Was led by Aghaly ag Alambo , a former member of the Front de libération de l'Aïr et de l'Azawagh (FLAA) , and Mohamed Acharif , a former captain in the Nigerien Armed Forces who defected to the rebels in May 2007. Little evidence of the motivation or make up of the Niger-based rebels was public by the summer of 2007 aside from the statements released by the MNJ and the Nigerien government. The government of Niger claimed that these attacks were
14640-532: Was led by Ibrahim ag Bahanga , a Malian Armed Forces officer of Tuareg origins who had deserted early in the summer of 2007. The government also claimed that rebel forces were involved in organized crime and drug smuggling. Bahanga, a former rebel from the May 2006 and 1990 insurgencies, announced on 31 August that his group would negotiate with the government, and intermediaries from former Tuareg rebel groups headed by 1990s commander Iyad Ag Ghaly , as well as Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi , offered to mediate. At
14762-486: Was shut down by the government for publishing news of the rebellion, and Bamako based journalists have been similarly threatened. Domestic human rights groups claim there has been an effort to keep foreign journalists from reporting on the crisis in Niger, and this could account for the seeming shift of rebel violence to Mali. By August 2007 the MNJ claimed defections from the army had increased their numbers to over 2000 fighters. Some sources claim that defections included
14884-689: Was the Amenokal (chief) of the Ikazkazan Tuareg confederation. Kaocen had engaged in numerous, mostly indecisive, attacks on French colonial forces from at least 1909. When the Sanusiya leadership in the Fezzan oasis town of Kufra (in modern Libya ) declared a Jihad against the French colonialists in October 1914, Kaocen rallied his forces. Tagama, the Sultan of Agadez had convinced
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