Mohamed Ag Najem (alias ''Ag Mohamed Najem'', alternatively spelled ''Mahamed Ag Najim'') is an Azawadi colonel, who is the chief of staff of the

National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad or the Azawad National Liberation Movement (Tamasheq: '; ar, الحركة الوطنية لتحرير أزواد ''al-Ḥarakat al-Waṭaniyat Litaḥrīr ʾĀzawād''; french: Mouvement nati ...

(MNLA) army.

Biography

He is thought to be born at the end of the 1950s in the Adrar des Ifoghas massif. His father of the

Kel Adagh The Kel Adagh (var. Kel Adrar, Kel Adghagh, less commonly Kel Ifoghas) are a Tuareg confederation of clans (or "''Drum-Groups''") living in the region of the Adrar des Iforas highlands in Mali. The name comes from Tamasheq "''Kel''" ("those from/o ...

tribe was killed by the

Malian army The Malian Armed Forces (french: links=no, Forces Armées Maliennes) consists of the Army (french: Armée de Terre, links=no), Republic of Mali Air Force (french: Force Aérienne de la Republique du Mali, links=no), and National Guard (french: G ...

in the 1963 Tuareg rebellion at a time where he was a young child. At 20 years old he was recruited as a volunteer in the Libyan army under Gaddafi. He served in Libya and in Chad before returning to Mali to take part in the 1990 Tuareg rebellion led by

Iyad Ag Ghaly Iyad Ag Ghaly ( ar, اياد اغ غالي, sometimes romanised as Ag Ghali), also known as Abū al-Faḍl ( ar, أبو الفضل ), is a Tuareg militant from Mali's Kidal Region. He has been active in Tuareg rebellions against the Malian gov ...

. He then returned to Libya, rejecting the peace agreement signed between the Malian government and the Tuareg rebels. He became a colonel in the

Libyan army The Libyan Army ( ar, الجيش الليبي) is the brand for a number of separate military forces in Libya, which are under the command of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). Since December 2015 the groups of t ...

and was put in charge of an elite unit in the city of Sabha. The civil war in Libya prompted his return to his homeland. At the end of 2011, he federated his former fellow Libyan soldiers, three local

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Alg ...

clans and Tuareg deserters of the Malian Army to become the military leader of the MNLA army.

References

Berber Malians Living people Members of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad Year of birth missing (living people) {{Mali-bio-stub