The main separatist groups confronting government forces in northern Mali announced on Saturday that they were transforming into the “Azawad Liberation Front (FLA)” in a press release.
The creation of “a politico-military entity carrying the aspirations of the people of Azawad for self-determination” was announced by those responsible for the Permanent Strategic Framework for the Defense of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA), an alliance of predominantly Tuareg separatist armed groups created in May 2024, following a meeting held between Tuesday and Saturday.
Azawad is the name of the territory claimed by the separatists in northern Mali.
Armed separatist groups lost control of several localities in the North at the end of 2023 after an offensive by the Malian army which culminated in the capture of Kidal, a bastion of independence demands and a major sovereignty issue for the central state.
The Azawad Liberation Front “aims to lead to the total liberation of Azawad and the establishment of the Azawad authority,” the statement said.
The creation of this new coalition is justified by the massacres, according to the press release, of civilians by the Malian army and its Russian allies or the non-compliance with agreements signed in the past with Bamako.
The new coalition calls on “all the sons of Azawad with other ideologies to open up to union” and the countries of the sub-region as well as the international community to “recognize the FLA as the only representative of the people of Azawad”.
The FLA says it has adopted a new flag.
Mali has been plunged into a multifaceted crisis since the outbreak of independence and jihadist insurgencies in 2012.
The country, led by the military after a double coup in 2020 and 2021, broke its military partnership with France, a former colonial power, to turn to Russia.
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