SUMMARY
MSA (Mouvement du Salut de l’Azawad, or Movement for the Salvation of Azawad, sometimes MSA-D) was a Touareg-dominated armed group that originated in Mali. Since the 1990s, Mali had seen intermittent fighting between the government and several groups over the Azawad region. Amid negotiation to settle the conflict, the Azawad armed groups in 2014 organized themselves in two camps: the pro-independence CMA umbrella organization, and the pro-national unity “Platform” alliance (for more detailed information, see Mali: Azawad). In 2015, the Government of Mali signed the Algiers Agreement with both CMA and Platform, effectively settling the Azawad conflict and implementing autonomy in the region. However, the security situation in Mali remained unstable as a consequence of a parallel insurgency dominated by more Islamist-leaning groups (such as Ansar Dine), an emerging Islamic State (IS) branch, and increasing communal violence; it was in this context that MSA emerged.
MSA was created in early September 2016, following discord within CMA. According to sources within the group, MSA splintered from CMA because the latter was unable to handle the increasing communal tensions in northern Mali, and because the CMA leadership was vested in a narrow, inaccessible circle. The group was comprised of members from several CMA factions, including MNLA (Mouvement national de libération de l’Azawad, or Azawad National Liberation Movement), HCUA (Haut conseil pour l’unité de l’Azawad, or High Council for the Unity of Azawad), and MAA (Mouvement arabe de l’Azawad, or Arab Movement of Azawad). MSA claimed that its primary goal was to protect and represent Azawad’s entire population, and it reaffirmed its commitment to the 2015 Algiers peace agreement. Ideologically, MSA was described as a secularist and Azawad nationalist group.
Moussa Ag Acharatoumane – the chief from the Daoussak Touareg residing around the town Ménaka, and a former official of MNLA – was the founder-leader of MSA. Another important leader and co-founder of MSA was Colonel Assalat Ag Habi, a Chamanamas Touareg from Ménaka. According to the group itself, it had access to almost 3000 fighters, but this number was not independently corroborated and should thus be viewed with caution. Initially, most fighters were drawn from the same two groups as its leaders, the Daoussak and Chamanamas sub-groups of the Touareg. However, after only a few months, in November 2016, the Chamanamas faction of the group broke off into MSA-Chamanamas (MSA-C), making MSA an entirely Daoussak organization. In line with this, MSA is sometimes referred to as MSA-D.
Soon after its creation, MSA aligned itself with Platform, as it was not allowed to stay within CMA. However, in October 2016 MSA opted to create its own coalition of CMA dissident factions, which included CJA (Congrès pour la justice dans l'Azawad, or Azawad Justice Congress), CPA (Coalition pour le peuple de l’Azawad, or Coalition for the People of Azawad), and CMFPR II (Coordination des mouvements et fronts patriotiques de résistance II, or Coordination of Patriotic Resistance Fronts and Movements II). This new coalition was however not an outright merger, but rather a formalized cooperation scheme. When fighting against IS, MSA also maintained a tactical alliance with GATIA, a pro-government group that originated in northern Mali to counter the Azawad separatist groups.
