SUMMARY
FLAA (Front de libération de l’Aїr et l’Azaouad, or Aїr and Azawad Liberation Front) was an armed Touareg group active in the Nigerien conflict over government. The group’s primary goal was the implementation of a federal system in Niger, in which all Nigerien ethnic groups would have their own administrative entity. FLAA claimed to represent the Touareg, a traditionally nomadic ethnic group residing in northern Niger. The Touareg has been subjected to physical, political, social, and economic discrimination by political elites – largely dominated by the Djerma and Songhai ethnic groups – that are located in southern Niger. As part of its demands for federalism, FLAA sought the creation of “Aїr and Azawad”, a proposed Touareg administrative entity that would be comprised of parts of Niger’s northern Agadez region. FLAA explicitly stated that it did not have any separatist demands. UCDP thus considered the FLAA to have a government-based incompatibility – despite its specific territorial demands – as the group demanded a change of Niger’s entire political system.
FLAA emerged at some point in 1991, amid an escalating Touareg uprising that had begun in Niger in 1990. Since the mid-1970s, many Touareg had migrated abroad, particularly to Algeria and Libya, in order to improve their standard of living. Many Touareg entering Libya were recruited into the Islamic Legion, an auxiliary military force created by Libyan ruler Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to fight in conflicts abroad. In 1990, experienced Touareg fighters returned to Niger, and began attacking government targets; however, these initial attacks appeared to have been conducted by less organized groups. The Touareg fighters eventually coalesced as the more formally organized FLAA. Rhissa ag Boula was the “Commander in Chief” of FLAA, and he claimed that the group had around 1000 well-equipped fighters; however, this number was not verified by independent sources.
Despite many of its fighters being ex-Islamic Legion, no available information suggested that FLAA received any secondary support from Libya. The group even explicitly stated that it did not receive any support from foreign governments.
On 10 June 1993, FLAA and the Government of Niger signed the “Paris Accords”, which included a truce agreement, the establishment of development funds for northern Niger, and planning of further talks concerning the Touareg political demands. The accords caused friction within FLAA, and eventually resulted in the emergence of a splinter group called FLT (Front de libération de Tamoust, or Tamoust Liberation Front), led by Mano Dayak. On 13 October 1993, FLAA together with FLT and ARLN (Armée révolutionaire de liberation du Nord-Niger, or Revolutionary Army for the Liberation of North Niger) – both of which also claimed to represent the Touareg - created the CRA umbrella organization. After this date, FLAA thus ceased to exist as an independent actor in the UCDP data.
