Biography:
Tanya Bindra is a documentary photographer, filmmaker, and producer. She has reported on conflict, postcolonial politics, and migration in over 20 countries across West Africa, South Asia, and Europe. Tanya has contributed to...
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A young boy holds up his two fingers, a symbol for Azawad. A large majority of Kidal youth are supportive of the rebels of the MNLA, Mouvement National de Liberation de l'Azawad, and remain disillusioned with the Malian state in providing services or opportunities for advancement to the residents of the isolated, desert city. Rebels of the MNLA, Mouvement National de Liberation de l'Azawad, returned to the desert city of Kidal along with French forces and support in late January 2013. It had been less than a year since the rebels’ brief occupation of the city in 2012, along with Gao and Timbuktu, fell to the Al-Qaeda-linked groups they had previously been allied with. While the Ouagadougou accords signed in June allowed for the return of about 200 Malian soldiers to the rebel stronghold before the holding of national elections in August, the MNLA have yet to disarm. They continue to haphazardly administer the city and occupy government buildings. If their demands for autonomy are not met in upcoming negotiations, they have asserted that they are prepared to retake arms and continue their fight for the creation of Azawad.
Supporters of the MNLA, the Tuareg separatist group, are seated behind representatives of the Malian state at a Commission of Dialogue and Reconciliation meeting held in Kidal. The meeting, intended to begin talks between government officials, local leaders and armed groups, ended abruptly when the MNLA delegation read aloud a statement rejecting the dialogue and then preceded to leave the building shouting “Azawad! Mali No!â€
A colonial-era French military fort, later used as a prison, displays the flags of Azawad and graffiti that proclaims, “Azawad, Mali No†at dusk in Kidal, Mali. Rebels of the MNLA, Mouvement National de Liberation de l'Azawad, returned to the desert city of Kidal along with French forces and support in late January 2013. It had been less than a year since the rebels’ brief occupation of the city in 2012, along with Gao and Timbuktu, fell to the Al-Qaeda-linked groups they had previously been allied with. While the Ouagadougou accords signed in June allowed for the return of about 200 Malian soldiers to the rebel stronghold before the holding of national elections in August, the MNLA have yet to disarm. They continue to haphazardly administer the city and occupy government buildings. If their demands for autonomy are not met in upcoming negotiations, they have asserted that they are prepared to retake arms and continue their fight for the creation of Azawad.
A Tuareg MNLA rebel stands guard at the governor’s residence in Kidal, Mali. The mansion continues to be under control of the rebels, forcing the governor, Adama Kamissoko, to sleep at the mayor's office.
A child reads a passage from the Koran during class at the Soullamou Madrassa in Gao, Mali. Since fighting broke out between militant Islamic groups linked to al-Qaeda and Malian French-backed forces, attendance has been low and many curriculums have been disrupted.
A Malian soldier stands guard as he is about to patrol Kadji, a town surrounding Gao where it is thought that members of the jihadist group MUJAO have been in hiding, in Kadji, Mali. Over 50 men were arrested in an assault on Kadji in an effort to take back control of Mali's northern territories that had been under control of radical Islamist rebels for over 10 months before a French military intervention launched in January 2012.
Agassatou Alassane, 20, sits with her baby, Yaya, as women and children clean themselves in the Niger River in Gao, Mali. During the ten-month rule of the radical Islamist rebels known as MUJAO (Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa), the application of Sharia law forbade females and males to share the same areas on the river to clean and socialize, nor could girls and women be seen without the hijab.
Three children play in Gao, Mali. During the ten-month rule of the radical Islamist rebels known as MUJAO (Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa), girls and women were forced to wear the hijab or risked being taken to the headquarters of the Islamic Police, where many were raped.
As the Malian military conduct their patrols, they question a fisherman and his three sons in Gao, Mali. River traffic has been closely monitored as many of the attacks on Gao began with members of MUJAO (Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa) infiltrating the city through the river and subsequently attacking checkpoints.
Two Malian boys watch as French and Malian military patrol the market area of downtown Gao following a battle between militant jihadists and French and Malian forces.
Members of the French military sing the national anthem as the French Minister of Defense, Jean-Yves le Drian, visits the French military base in Gao, Mali.
French military patrol the damaged market area of downtown Gao, after fighting between radical Islamist rebels and French and Malian forces left it in ruins last week in Gao, Mali.
A man puts out fire in the central Gao market place in Gao, Mali. Clashes between Jihadists and Malian and French forces burnt down the city's main market.
A Malian soldier yells while another takes photos of several men accused of having links to al-Qaeda in the prison where they are being kept, in Gao, Mali.
Malian soldiers wash their clothes on the banks of the Niger River in Gao, Mali. Malian soldiers were chased out of the north last year when Tuareg separatist rebels, MNLA (National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad), first took over the northern cities of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu. Their anarchic reign was associated with the massacring of Malian soldiers in Aguelhok, raping women and children and stealing from the local population.
Ambeiry Ag Ghissa, a representative of the political branch of the MNLA, finishes a broadcast at Radio Azawad, the radio station under occupation by the rebel group, in Kidal, Mali. The MNLA continues to haphazardly administer the city and occupy government buildings. Although they have expressed hopefulness in upcoming negotiations and the election of Mali's new president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, they have asserted that they are prepared to retake arms and continue their fight for the creation of Azawad if their demands for autonomy are not met.
Amadou (name changed), approximately 56 years old, lies in the room of his host family in Bamako. Amadou was threatened with death and forced to watch the rape of his wife by members of the MNLA. Since then has not talked or moved willingly. His children say it is as if he has turned into a ghost. Amadou has been unable to seek medical attention.
Families from Gao and Kidal prepare food together in the compound they share together in Bamako. Many displaced say they are in need of adequate shelter, food and clean water.