[8] Born in 1954 into a noble family of the Ifogha tribal group (an influential Tuareg clan in the Kidal region[6]), his gift for strategic thinking allegedly earned him the nickname, the Strategist.
[9] On the night of 28 June 1990, Ag Ghaly directed attacks by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MPLA) on Tidermèn and Ménaka that killed eighteen people, including at least four Malian Army soldiers.
In a leaked US diplomatic cable, the author described Ag Ghaly as a "proverbial bad penny" who always turned up when a Western government had to give money to Tuaregs.
[13] Once "a great fan of cigarettes, booze, and partying",[14] interested in music and poetry, with connections to the Tuareg band Tinariwen, he was proselytised to strict Islam by the Tablighi Jamaat missionary movement.
[14] Unable to take a leadership role with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), the mainstream Tuareg rebellion,[14] Ag Ghaly announced the formation of the Islamist Ansar Dine, which he claimed controlled much of northeastern Mali, in a video statement.
[12][14] The announcement created friction with the MNLA, a secular group fighting for Azawad's independence from Mali, including former allies of Ag Ghaly who urged him to break his rumoured ties to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
[18] On 3 April, Ag Ghaly gave a radio interview in Timbuktu announcing that Sharia law would be enforced in the city, including the veiling of women, the stoning of adulterers, and the punitive mutilation of thieves.