Mali coup: African Spring

The situation in Mali remains tense as neighbors threaten sanctions against the country taken over by a military junta. The coup is just one of the many destabilizing results of what has been called the African Spring, experts believe.

The junta said it began the mutiny against its government because President Toure was unable to handle the uprising of Tuareg tribes in the north of the country.

The Mali Tuareg separatists’ National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) started a rebellion in January seeking independence. The group is rumored to have members who fought in the 2011 civil war in Libya, both in Muammar Gaddafi’s army and with rebel troops. Some of the arms from Gaddafi’s depots and NATO’s supply drops ended up in their hands, which may have triggered the insurgence.