Tuareg rebellion (2012)

2012 Tuareg rebellion
	Part of the Mali War and Tuareg rebellions and the impact of the Arab Spring
	; Map of Azawad, as claimed by the MNLA. Dark grey dots indicate regions with a Tuareg majority.
Date	16 January 2012 – 6 April 2012; (2 months and 3 weeks)
Location	Northern Mali
Status	MNLA/Ansar Dine victory Malian president Amadou Toumani Touré is ousted by a coup d'état; MNLA and Ansar Dine take control of all Northern Mali territory; Independent state of Azawad declared by the MNLA and initially supported by Ansar Dine; Conflict between the MNLA and Ansar Dine (the latter receiving support from AQIM and MOJWA).;
Belligerents
Mali FLNA; Ganda Iso	Azawad MNLA; Islamists Ansar Dine; MOJWA;
Commanders and leaders
Amadou Toumani Touré (until March); Sadio Gassama (until March); El Hadj Ag Gamou (until March); Amadou Sanogo (since March 2012) Mohamed Lamine Ould Sidatt (FLNA); Housseine Khoulam (FLNA)	Mahmoud Ag Aghaly; Bilal Ag Acherif; Moussa Ag Acharatoumane; Mohamed Ag Najem Iyad ag Ghaly; Omar Ould Hamaha
Strength
7,000–7,800 regulars,; 4,800 paramilitaries,; 3,000 militia (overall military strength) ~500 (FLNA)	MNLA: 3,000 – 9000(MNLA claime) Ansar Dine: ~300
Casualties and losses
200+ killed or missing,; 400 captured; 1,000–1,600 defected; Total: 1,000–1,500+ killed, captured or deserted	~165 killed (Malian sources)
	Displaced: ~100,000 refugees abroad; 100,000+ internally displaced persons; Total: ~250,000

The 2012 Tuareg rebellion was the early phase of the Mali War; from January to April 2012, a war was waged against the Malian government by rebels with the goal of attaining independence for the northern region of Mali, known as Azawad. It was led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and was part of a series of insurgencies by traditionally nomadic Tuaregs which date back at least to 1916. The MNLA was formed by former insurgents and a significant number of heavily armed Tuaregs who fought in the Libyan Civil War.

On 22 March, President Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup d'état 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, although this move was reversed on 1 April.

The Islamist group Ansar Dine, too, began fighting the government in later stages of the conflict, claiming control of vast swathes of territory, albeit disputed by the MNLA. As a consequence of the instability following the coup, Northern Mali's three largest cities—Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu—were overrun by the rebels on three consecutive days. On 5 April, after the capture of Douentza, the MNLA said that it had accomplished its goals and called off its offensive. The following day, it proclaimed Azawad's independence from Mali.

After the end of hostilities with the Malian Army, however, Tuareg nationalists and Islamists struggled to reconcile their conflicting visions for the intended new state. On 27 June, Islamists from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) clashed with the MNLA in the Battle of Gao, wounding MNLA secretary-general Bilal Ag Acherif and taking control of the city. By 17 July, MOJWA and Ansar Dine had pushed the MNLA out of all the major cities.

On 14 February 2013 the MNLA renounced their claim of independence for Azawad and asked the Malian government to start negotiations on its future status.

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