Northern Mali, with the MNLA Soldiers, 2014
Fehrat Bouda accompanied the Tuareg rebels to their fief: the region of Kidal, in North Mali, 1200 kilometers from Bamako. There, he was exceptionally able to share the daily life of the members of the independence movement MNLA (National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad): training of new recruits, securing their positions and, for the first time in the history of the movement, total administration of several towns and villages (Kidal, In Khalil, Tessalit etc.).
The zone, controlled by the pro-independence Tuaregs remains extremely dangerous because of the presence of groups of drug traffickers and Ansar Dine jihadists on the ground. The Tuareg rebel movement is trying to maintain its positions in the Azawad region, which they have been claiming in vain for half a century.
The MNLA is actively recruiting to avoid attacks by Islamists, who continue to carry out kamikaze attacks in towns and ambushes in the middle of the desert. It also opposes the regular army soldiers who would like to regain control of the north of the country.
For the first time in the history of the Tuareg rebellion, women decided to take up arms. In Tuareg society, women enjoy an unequalled status: holders of knowledge and wealth, they are the guardians of traditions. Therefore, their recent involvement in the military conflict is a sign of a new evolution of the rebellion.
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