The current crisis in northern Mali has its roots in the region’s secessionist past.

After weeks of coming under increasing pressure from rebels in the north, the Malian army finally struck on March 22, 2012 in the capital, Bamako, in the south. The civilian regime of Amadou Toumani Toure was overthrown – a few weeks to the end of its tenure - by a group of largely middle-ranking military officers led by Captain Amadou Sanogo.
Prior to the coup, widows and other relatives of soldiers in Kati on the outskirts of Bamako had in early February staged a demonstration, protesting government’s alleged negligence in providing enough equipment and food to soldiers in the north. They argued that this had led to the slaughter of many soldiers by rebels.
Within days, the protest evolved into a more broad-based march in Bamako that soon spread to Segou, the country’s second city. This provided the initial spark that eventually triggered the mutiny in Kati Barracks that in turn evolved into the Captain Sanogo-led coup.
Bolstered by fighters and weapons from the 2011 Libyan War - that led to the overthrow and eventual killing of Col. Muammar Ghaddafi - separatist Tuareg rebels succeeded in driving out government forces from the north. This permitted a number of Islamist groups to expand and consolidate their presence.
There are about 1.5 million Tuaregs spread across five countries in the Sahel, including Mali. In recent decades, these Tuaregs have called for an independent State, commonly referred to as Azawad. They have long shared a relationship of mistrust with the government in Bamako. As a result, there have been four Tuareg uprisings since independence; the first in 1962, and the most recent in 2012.
Even during the pre-colonial and colonial periods, these nomadic groups existed largely outside State control. Thus, a fundamental cause of the crisis is unresolved tensions in the north. This has added to the inability of past governments to convince Tuaregs that belonging to the Malian State is in their interest.
Northern Mali is a complex region and home to a number of diverse actors and armed groups. They include the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, MNLA, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM, Ansar Al-Dine, the Unity Movement for Jihad in West Africa, MUJAO and the National Liberation Front of Azawad, FLNA.
Both the coup that destabilized the south of Mali and the Tuareg rebellion share a number of common root causes. They stem from the decay of State institutions, high levels of corruption, the lack of a credible response to the demands of Tuaregs, trans-national border crime wave and the unwillingness of neighbouring Algeria to play a leading regional role.
While the coup and 2012 Tuareg uprising took some people by surprise, discontent had been mounting for a long time. Tuaregs were resentful that the government was investing money in military facilities in the north rather than infrastructure to serve the population. They then decided to pursue their goal of an Azawad State before it became too late.
On the other hand, Mali’s political elite seemed to have abdicated its responsibility in dealing with the grievances of Tuaregs. While the military remained under-funded and ill-equipped, there was alleged widespread mismanagement of resources, both contributing to the rebellion.
As various terrorist groups consolidated their presence in the area, the regional context did not help matters. The whole Sahel region has for some time now been plagued by drought, famine and high food prices, thereby making things more difficult for residents of the arid region.