JTIC Brief: MNLA re-awakens Tuareg separatism in Mali

On 17 January, the Mouvement National pour la Liberation de l’Azawad (MNLA) launched an assault on the town of Menaka in Mali’s north eastern Gao region. The following day, MNLA militants attacked the towns of Aguelhok and Tessalit, both located in neighbouring Kidal region. Subsequently, on 26 January, the MNLA announced it had taken full control of Lere in Timbuktou region, and claimed to have taken partial control of Anderamboukane in Gao. Finally, on 1 February, the group announced it had taken full control of Menaka.

The attacks represented the first significant Tuareg militant offensive in the country for three years, and marked the beginning of armed operations by the MNLA, a coalition of Tuareg militant groups that had announced its existence in late 2011. Notably, Tuareg fighters recently returned from serving in the Libyan army of former President Muammar Ghadaffi were reported to have participated in the assaults, appearing to confirm fears that their return might presage a period of renewed Tuareg militancy in the Sahel.

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