Tuareg take action against Al-Qaeda themselves - STP warns about a new Tuareg revolt in the Sahara

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns about a new Tuareg revolt in north-western Africa. "After three bloody riots in the past 20 years, there is a new threat of an unrest among the native inhabitants of the Sahara in northern Mali, because they feel left alone by the government in Bamako," said the STP's Africa consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Wednesday. "The growing instability in the region is caused by the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI) and the militarization of the Sahara. As the Tuareg are discontent, they now prefer to take the action against the AQMI themselves." The indigenous peoples are suffering directly from the consequences of the anti-terrorist struggle. A two-day conference organized by Algeria and Canada has started in Algiers today, during which security experts will discuss how to coordinate the measures against AQMI more effectively.

Independent from the anti-terror campaigns of the Sahel States and their Western allies, Tuareg have announced own military offensives against the AQMI to keep the terrorists away from the regions of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu in northern Mali. The Tuareg are not only trying to stop the AQMI from expanding their activities, but are also trying to stop them from receiving new weapons from the conflict region of Libya. Mali's government fears that armed Tuareg might not only scare off terrorists but may also turn against the government of Mali with new force. Momentarily, fighters of Tuareg rebel groups returning home from Libya are boosting the Tuareg's confidence.

"It is not unlikely, that what Mali's government fears - a revolt by the Tuareg - might actually happen," said Delius. In October 2011, several Tuareg groups founded the "National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA)". After they were at first only fighting for more justice and the autonomy of Azawad - a region of northern Mali primarily inhabited by Tuareg - there have been newer calls for an independent Tuareg state during the demonstrations of the MNLA on November the 1st. Members of the Parliament of Mali traveled north on November 12 to try and conciliate by debating with the Tuareg.

AQMI seems to take the Tuareg's warning seriously, because - after an ultimatum from the native peoples - the terrorists chose to retreat from the mountain region of Adrar Tigharghar near the Aguelhok settlement in northern Mali. But the AQMI is still active in other regions of northern Mali. The terrorist organization managed to achieve a collapse of tourism by kidnapping foreigners, disturbing the Tuareg's most important economic basis of existence.