Azawad Declaration of Independence

Azawadi Declaration of Independence
MNLA's adopted flag for their Independent State of Azawad.
Created	6 April 2012
Location	Gao
Author(s)	National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad
Signatories	Secretary General Bilal Ag Acherif
Purpose	Independence of the Azawad from Mali

On 6 April 2012, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (French acronym: MNLA) unilaterally declared Azawad independent from the Republic of Mali in the wake of a rebellion which was preceded by a string of other . It is called the Independent State of Azawad.

Following the return of several hundreds of soldiers after the Libyan Civil War in 2011 and the formation of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, an insurgency commenced on 17 January 2012 with an attack in the Kidal Region, near the border with Algeria. Following the March coup d'état, the rebels made further inroads to capture the three biggest cities of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu in three days, respectively. At this point, other factions joined the fighting, including the Islamist Ansar Dine and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa. Despite reports of Ansar Dine taking control of most of what was initially captured by or with the help of the MNLA, the group established their writ over large swathes of the territory. The Tuareg peoples had also long complained of marginalisation within Mali.

The Secretary-General of the MNLA, Bilal ag Acherif, signed the declaration in Gao, the site of the largest Malian military outpost in the north, on 6 April 2012. It was announced by Moussa ag Attaher on France 24.

The declaration was issued in French on behalf of the "voice of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad" and in consultation with the Executive Committee, the Revolutionary Council, the Consultative Council, the State-Major of the Army of Liberation and the regional offices. It also cited as reasoning France's unilateral attachment of the region to Mali despite an appeal to French President Charles de Gaulle.