Following the return of 5,000 soldiers after the Libyan Civil War in 2011 and the formation of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad,[1] an insurgency commenced on 17 January 2012 with an attack in the Kidal Region, near the border with Algeria.

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.

[3] 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.

[5] It also cited as reasoning France's unilateral attachment of the region to Mali despite an appeal to French President Charles de Gaulle.