[1][2] This short revolt could only be suppressed with the entry into the conflict of Morocco and Algeria in 1963, which handed over the 35 leaders of the counter-rebellion, then imposed a military authority on the Tuareg regions.

[3] Many in the sparsely populated and ethnically distinct north of Mali along with some in southern Algeria and northern Niger expected an independent Tuareg, Berber, and Arab nation to be formed by the Sahara desert regions when French Colonialism ended.

The first Tuareg attacks began in northern Mali in early 1962 with small, “hit and run” raids against government targets.

The insurgents generally depended on their camels for transportation and were equipped mainly with unsophisticated and rather old small arms, unlike the Malian armies who owned Soviet weapons, and the support of Algeria and Morocco.

And while the government subsequently announced a number of programs to improve local infrastructure and economic opportunity, it lacked the resources to follow through on most of them.