People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (in French:
Mouvement Populaire de Libération de l'Azawad, MPLA), was a
Tuareg militant rebel group in northern
Mali (
Azawad). Initially based amongst exiles in
Algeria and, especially,
Libya, MPLA launched an armed campaign in June 1990. This fed into
the disturbances already underway in Mali, and started a civil war. After the overthrow of the Malian government, and the introduction of electoral democracy, the rebellion gradually ceased.