Tinariwen have always played their part of responsibility in the Azawado-Mali conflict! They have always carried their Azawadi people through their music and dress code. Here at Ferrera Sotto Le Setelle in Italy, you can see them flying the newly designed flag with the arrival of the FLA.
Now, it is up to our leaders to put in place mechanisms that will allow them to move beyond the sectarian policies that have always been the basis of our failures, and to dedicate themselves sincerely and fully to the cause.
Rhissa Ag
12-06-25
If I could comment to this video with a million hearts, I would!
❤️💛💙🤍
Tiaree ⵜⵢⵔ
12-06-25
The Tinariwen group fundamentally supports the Tuareg struggle for self-determination and independence through their music, expressing their people’s aspirations and demands for greater autonomy and recognition of their rights.
As part of their ongoing struggle, they became the first to unveil the new Azawad flag before such a large audience.
A shared vision, carried by a united team, is what builds great nations/civilizations/works/projects. Success does not rely on a single individual, but on the strength of the collective.
Tinariwen/ Leadership.
Imidiwans Itous Ohars.
Tohima Ag Liblina
Watch the video with Tinariwen chanting “Arawan” on TikTok.
It often happens that the group TINARIWEN is incorrectly presented as a Tuareg musical group from Mali, without mentioning the complex circumstances of their creation. In reality, the group was founded by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib (Abaraybone) in reaction to the execution of his father in Tessalit by the Malian army.
It is through their music that Tinariwen pays tribute to his father and denounces the injustices suffered by the Tuaregs in Azawad. It is essential to emphasize that the group has never benefited from the support of the Malian state, contrary to what one might believe.
It is therefore regrettable to reduce Tinariwen to a simple geographical label and to ignore the political and social issues that have shaped their music.
Rhissa Ag
26-01-25
This noble group does not deserve all these lies claiming that they are “Malian”. Sometimes it`s done by pure ignorance but not always. It´s also done in an evil attempt to erase and wipe out the Azawadian Touareg culture. There are not only Tuaregs in Azawad, we know that, but in this case we talk about the the Tuareg or their real name, Kel Tamasheq, the people who speak Tamasheq.
The Azawad flag that they brandish is their identity. It is not the flag of Mali. You will never see Tinariwen waving the flag of Mali. They are not Malian and never will be. Maybe we should just say that Tinariwen are from the desert… without borders.
What is this song that they sing throughout their world tours where we see the group as well as the public, proudly displaying and waving the flag of Azawad?
Oh yes… the song is called Azawad. And it has been recorded in a new version recently.
Tinariwen`s music is like an extension of the desert, and a nostalgia that is both sad and sweet at the same time.
ⵜⵢⵔ
26-01-25
TINARIWEN AZAWAD
Lyrics:
Azawad and its children see the rebellion emerging.
The forces of Azawad protect its leaders and its territory.
A revolution that all the sons of Azawad salute, and whose martyrs are the victims.
“The nomads of the bush suffer terribly from thirst, much more than the city dwellers. They lack everything: clothes, medical care. Desperate, they wonder what to do, who to help. They wait for help. Arawan to Kidal to Adar_inboukar. Egadez, Kidal, Tamanrasset, Ingal, lands of the Imouhag, with whom they have deep ties. These lands are rich in gazelles, dromedaries and beautiful women”
Tinariwen “Arawan” Album Amassakoul
Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, (Abraybon) founder and leader of Tinariwen witnessed the assassination of his father by the Malian state in Tessalit. He was only between 5 and 8 years old. A horrible crime, and which led him to create revolutionary music that will accompany the struggle until independence of Azawad.
Here is 63 clips telling about the killing, displacement and suffering of the Azawadi people. Tinariwen – Idrache (Traces Of The Past) | Full Album Stream
UPDATE JULY 27, 2025:
Celebrating Azawad Victory and Identity Reaffirmation
The band Tinariwen commemorates the Azawad’s victory over the Malian military forces and their substitutes, the Russian mercenaries of Africa Corps (formerly known as Wagner), through a special song. The commemoration comes on the anniversary of their most resounding defeat in Africa, which occurred specifically in Tinzawaten, in the Azawad region.
Tinariwen’s strong and unique message in favour of Azawad should, we hope, lift the veil on the group’s cultural, territorial and historical affiliation. It should also encourage the Malian parties who, without any scruples, do not hesitate to present them as identifying with Mali, even though this group owes its birth to the shooting and short-range execution of Ibrahim Ag Alhabib’s father (the leader of the group) by the Malian army in the 1960s-1963.
Rhissa Ag
The song lyrics are:
Oh Azawad, your proud warriors, since time immemorial, have dragged their nights filled with indescribable pain.
Each twilight, draped in mystery, sees their hearts tighten with a poignant nostalgia as night approaches, when the exhausted sun abandons itself to the summits of the youngest acacias.
Then, the Wagners, those Russian shadows of death, fell and were lost, swallowed up in the stone beds of the great Azawadian wadis.
One was caught in chains, another breathed his last and buried in the burning sand without honor or tears. Of this cohort, none succeeded, not even a breath to whisper the echo of their fall.
As for their memory, it will fade, carried away by the dark, reddish desert wind, leaving behind only a deafening silence.
(Tinariwen)