Bergambar: Kaum Tuareg Di Padang Sahara

In Pictures: Orphans of the Sahara

Al Jazeera chronicles the Tuareg struggle for an independent homeland. The Tuareg are the indigenous people of the Sahara desert.  They are one of the poorest and most isolated peoples in the world - and one of the most militarised.  They are an army of the poor in a land of astounding natural wealth; an animal-herding people in a dying world of drought.  For decades, many Tuareg men have left their homes in search of work in neighbouring countries. Thousands ended up in Libya, as workers and fighters, and many as mercenaries for slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.  In late 2011, after Gaddafi's death, thousands of them returned to their Saharan homeland in Niger and Mali.  But having lost access to the country that was their only source of livelihood, they came home to find little more than crushing poverty, hunger and drought.  Barely able to feed their children amidst total state neglect, the men launched a rebellion to found their own country - for which they had already chosen a flag and an old Tuareg name: Azawad. But the Tuaregs would not be the only ones to emerge from a collapsing Libya with a lot of guns, and a plan. Al-Qaeda was also preparing for a fight. Access to the most basic elements of life is a daily struggle for the people of northern Niger and northern Mali  They are divided by colonial history between Mali and Algeria, Libya, Niger and Burkina Faso  The Tuareg of the Sahara are among the poorest and most isolated people in the world  Buried under Tuareg land are the richest energy deposits on the African continent  Parts of the Sahara are the poorest in the world For decades, Libya saw a mass influx of Tuareg men, many of them mercenaries for Muammar Gaddafi. Earnings from Libya supported hundreds of thousands of lives back home  After the Libyan revolution and the death of Gaddafi, thousands of Tuareg fighters returned to their homelands in northern Mali and Niger, carrying everything they owned  The Tuareg fighters returning to Mali had Gaddafi's guns and a plan to create  an independent state  The Tuareg have risen up seven times against Mali and Niger since their independence in 1960. Their dream for an independent state threatens five regional countries and the vital interests of France  Tuaregs were not the only ones to emerge from a collapsing Libya with a lot of guns, and a plan. Al-Qaeda and Ansar Dine were also planning a fight  Like northern Mali, northern Niger is filled with former Tuareg rebels and soldiers back from Libya, who dream of a Tuareg state  Most Tuareg live far from amenities like running water, electricity, schools or hospitals  In this region, the only kind of school most Tuareg children go to in the morning is a Qur'an class in the sand Most children in this region grow up to be illiterate