rebel control – Page 17 – PolGeoNow Free Site Staging

March 31, 2012

Mali Conflict Map: Separatists Capture Kidal (March 2012)

Country Name: Mali (English, French, Bambara)
Official Name: Republic of Mali (English), République du Mali (French)
News Category: Divided Countries
Summary: Tuareg-led rebels in northern Mali have taken the important city of Kidal, as well as two other towns, and are now advancing on Gao, the northern headquarters of the Malian military.

Map of Tuareg rebellion in Northern Mali, showing towns controlled by the MNLA rebel group as of March 31, 2012

Towns captured by the Tuareg-majority MNLA rebel group in Mali. Modified from Wikimedia map by Orionist, incorporating images by Carport and NordNordWest (source). License: CC BY-SA.

Full Story: Mali Divided by Separatist Fighting

Conflict Update
Right on the heels of our last Mali map update, the Tuareg-led rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) have made a great deal of further progress, including their biggest victory yet. Yesterday the rebel group captured Kidal, one of the three main cities in northern Mali (the region in which they hope to establish an independent country called Azawad). This time, it was widely reported that the MNLA was working together with Ansar Edine (or “Ansar Dine”), an Islamist group also led by a veteran Tuareg fighter, but which the other rebels had formerly shunned.

Just after overrunning Kidal, the MNLA was reported to have taken the towns of Bourem and Ansongo on either side of Gao, a key city containing the northern headquarters of the Malian military. Malian troops had previously announced their withdrawal from those two towns in order to focus their defense on the city. Now, the Tuareg fighters have entered the city of Gao, and are currently fighting to take the two military bases there. Follow events as they develop on Political Geography Now! To see only stories about this ongoing conflict, use the Mali filter.

March 28, 2012

Mali Conflict Map: Separatists Gain Ground in North (March 2012)

Country Name: Mali (English, French, Bambara)
Official Name: Republic of Mali (English), République du Mali (French)
News Category: Divided Countries
Summary: The rebellion of Tuaregs and other ethnic groups in northern Mali has continued gaining territory, and now threatens major cities in the north, where the rebels seek to establish an independent country called Azawad. Meanwhile, Malian military leaders upset with their government’s handling of the rebellion have taken over the country in a coup, leading to increased chaos on the country’s suspension from the African Union.

Map of Tuareg rebellion in Northern Mali, showing towns controlled by the MNLA rebel group

Towns captured by the Tuareg-majority MNLA rebel group in Mali. Modified from Wikimedia map by Orionist, incorporating images by Carport and NordNordWest (source). License: CC BY-SA.

Full Story: Mali Divided by Separatist Fighting

Conflict Update
After a month with no territorial gains or losses reported, on March 11 the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) captured of the town of Tessalit in Mali’s far north. Home to a major military base and an airport, Tessalit was a major prize for the rebels, most of whom come from the traditionally nomadic Tuareg ethnic group. Their push for independence continued two days later with the storming of Diré and Goundam, two towns near the major northern city of Timbuktu, though it is unclear whether those two towns are still occupied by the MNLA.

Map of the African Union, marking suspended members Mali and Madagascar

The African Union (green) with suspended members
Mali and Madagascar in lighter green. Modified from
this Wikimedia map (public domain).

An unexpected turn of events came on March 21, when the Malian government fell in a military coup. The leaders of the takeover cited President Amadou Toumani Toure’s ineffectiveness at combating the Tuareg revolt in the north as their reason; ironically however, the chaos caused by the coup has proved beneficial to the rebels, who on March 23 captured the town of Anefis on the road between Gao and Kidal, two of the north’s major cities. The MNLA has boasted that it will soon take those two cities, as well as Timbuktu, and recently it has indeed been reported that Malian troops in Kidal are negotiating a surrender after the city was surrounded by Tuareg militias.

In the confusion, another Tuareg-led rebel group, the Islamist Ancar Dine, has also claimed to control the towns of Tinzaouaten, Tessalit, and Aguelhok, which according to most other sources are actually held by the MNLA. Though the two rebel groups have a share a history of being formed by leaders of former Tuareg rebellions, some local experts doubt that they are actually working together. Meanwhile, the coup in Mali’s capital city of Bamako has resulted in the country’s suspension from the African Union (AU), an important regional organization which includes every country in Africa except for Morocco. Mali is one of only two currently suspended AU states, the other being Magascar, which also experienced a coup d’etat several years ago.

(Note: For updates to the Mali conflict map, follow the Mali label on Political Geography Now.)

March 20, 2012

Syrian Uprising: Map Update 2

There are newer versions of this map available. To see them, view all Syria updates.

Map of Syria, showing control by the rebel Free Syrian Army as of March 20, 2012

Known areas of armed activity for the rebel “Free Syrian Army” – many rural areas may be under full rebel
control. Unarmed protests not shown. Revised for control of Qalaat al-Madiq and Azaz (see article). Map
is my own work, starting from this blank map by German Wikipedia user NordNordWest. License: CC BY-SA

(Note: For further updates to this map, follow the Syria label on Political Geography Now.)

Syria Conflict Update
The last few weeks have seen territorial losses for the Free Syrian Army (FSA), as government forces have executed a series major offensives on rebel-held areas. By the end of February, Qusayr near Homs was already reportedly only under partial control of the FSA, and on March 1 the Syrian army overran the rebel stronghold district of Baba Amr in the city of Homs itself. While fighting continues in a few other districts, the capture of Baba Amr was widely seen as crucial defeat for the FSA in Homs.

Less than two weeks later, government forces successfully took the northern city of Idlib from the rebels after a three-day battle. Daraa in the south and Deir ez-Zor in the east have also seen government offensives, while shelling continues in Rastan and rebel-held areas of Hama, though territorial control of these areas has mostly not changed. Meanwhile, since our last update, significant FSA activity has been reported for apparently the first time in the areas around Aleppo and Al-Qamishli, both cities that have been relatively quiet up until now.

This map also contains a correction from the last report – the town of Zabadani near Damascus was held by the rebels through late January and early February, but was taken back by the Syrian army prior to the last map update on February 26. That map has now been updated as well. Finally, the meaning of red coloration for cities on the map has been adjusted to include cities mostly under rebel control, since it is often difficult to determine whether control is 100% complete. You can see Political Geography Now’s original report and background information on the Syrian uprising in the article entitled Syria Divided by Armed Conflict.

Revision (April 10, 2012)
Since this map was first posted, it has since been reported that Azaz and Qalaat al-Madiq were already under rebel control on March 20. The map has been revised to show this.

Useful Link: Wikipedia – Timeline of the 2011-2012 Syrian Uprising

March 11, 2012

Map Update: Yemen Conflict

Country Name: Yemen (English), Al Yaman (Arabic)
Official Name: Republic of Yemen (English), Al Jumhūriyyah al Yamaniyyah (Arabic)
News Category: Divided Countries
Summary: Despite a negotiated end to its political crisis, Yemen is still deeply divided between the official government and at least three separate armed groups which existed even before the recent turmoil. For a description of the beginnings of Yemen’s popular uprising and the first version of this conflict map from last July, see Yemen Fragments Under Uprising. A previous updated version of that map can be seen in the News Bits: October 2011 article.

Major areas of non-government control in Yemen, held by armed groups resistant to the country’s recent power-sharing deal. Ansar al-Sharia and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are two related Islamic extremist groups. Map is my own work, from this blank map by Wikipedia user NordNordWest (license: CC BY-SA)

(Note: For updates to this map, follow the Yemen label on Political Geography Now.)

Conflict Update
Since last fall, the conflict in Yemen has undergone something of a change in direction. In November President Ali Abdullah Saleh finally signed an agreement with the Joint Meeting Parties, a coalition of opposition politicians that includes Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman. Under the deal, brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, Saleh would yield the presidency in February to vice president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi via a symbolic election. After the power transfer went forward as planned last month, opposition militias have mostly ended their conflicts with the government, and unarmed protests have decreased (but not ended altogether). The city of Taiz, referred to as the heart of Yemen’s revolution, has been largely demilitarized, and the streets of Sana’a no longer see frequent violence.

Useful Link: Timeline of the 2011–2012 Yemeni uprising (Wikipedia)

However, not all groups have fully agreed to the terms of the new arrangement. Most notably, there are three major armed groups who have been resisting the Yemeni government since long before last year’s popular uprising began:

Ansar al-Sharia & Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP): These two apparently connected groups of Islamic extremists took advantage of the chaos of the revolution to carve out their own territories in southern Yemen. Ansar al-Sharia now controls much of Abyan and Shabwah provinces, including hotly contested Zinjibar, as well as its recently declared “Islamic emirates” in both Jaar (which they renamed Waqar) and the eastern Shabwah region. Al Qaeda affiliate AQAP operates widely in the country, and in January briefly captured the town of Rada’a before withdrawing after negotiations with local leaders. Ansar al-Sharia and AQAP have played no part in the peace process, and are sworn enemies of nearly all other major political groups in the country.

The Al Houthi Rebels: The Houthis are a Shiite insurgent group that has fought several wars for autonomy from predominantly Sunni Yemen since 2004. During the beginnings of last year’s uprising, the Houthis solidified control over their home region of Sa’dah in the far northwest of the country, and have recently extended their power to the three surrounding provinces as well. The group’s leadership has called for participation in the national reconciliation process, but boycotted voting in last month’s single-party election. Only time can tell whether the Houthis’ territories will be integrated into Yemen or again erupt into full-blown rebellion.

The Southern Separatists: Ever since North and South Yemen united in 1990, southerners wishing to re-secede have become a major political force in the country. Many of the separatists use peaceful political methods, but there are also insurgents who occasionally make attacks on the government in the name of southern independence. These separatist militants played only a small part in the uprising last year, but have recently become more active, denouncing last month’s election and even going so far as to attack polling stations. Though they do not solidly control any territory, they still form a major threat to unity in Yemen.

Further Reading: Land of the Black Flag – Journalist Casey Coombs visits and photographs the Ansar al-Sharia stronghold of Jaar, the so-called “Islamic Emirate of Waqar”.

Major Sources:
Yemen Post News
AEI Critical Threats

February 29, 2012

Mali Divided by Separatist Fighting (February 2012)

Country Name: Mali (English, French, Bambara)
Official Name: Republic of Mali (English), République du Mali (French)
News Category: Divided Countries
Summary: Several towns in the African country of Mali have fallen out of government control this month, taken over by a separatist group known as the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). The rebels are led by members of the Tuareg ethnic group, traditionally nomadic inhabitants of the Sahara Desert, who dwell in Mali’s northern regions and have a long history of conflict with the national government.

Towns captured by the MNLA rebel group in Mali. Modified from Wikimedia map by Orionist, incorporating images by Carport and NordNordWest (source). License: CC BY-SA.

(Note: For updates to this map, follow the Mali label on Political Geography Now.)

Full Story
One of the many African states formed based on arbitrary borders from the European colonial era, Mali is divided into two visibly distinct regions which are both geographically and ethnically distinct. The southern area, which hosts the majority of the population, has a tropical climate and is dominated by the Bambara and other West African peoples, while the northern region is located in the Sahara Desert, historically the domain of the Tuareg nomads. Over the last century, there have been at least four separate rebellions led by Tuareg people, many of whom feel their homeland should never have been included in Mali in the first place. Now, the recently formed National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) has begun one more uprising against Mali, with better chances of success than ever before.

Proposed flag of Azawad (image by Orionist; source)

Country Profile: Mali (Wikipedia)

The war began on January 16th of this year, when MNLA forces launched an attack on the town of Ménaka, the next day taking control of that location as well as the towns of Aguelhok and Tessalit, both of which lie in the area bordering the rebels’ bases in the mountains of the Kidal region. On January 18th, the Malian army apparently recaptured all three towns, but the MNLA was not deterred. After another unsuccessful takeover of Aguelhok on January 24th, the revolutionaries finally captured and held onto the towns of Andéramboukane and Léré on the 26th, penetrating unusually far into the south of the country. On February 1st, rebels again captured Ménaka after government forces withdrew from the town, and one week later the MNLA secured the border town of Tinzaouaten, driving their opponents from the Malian military across the border into Algeria. The city of Kidal also saw fighting in February, and the conflict continued throughout the month, though no further territorial gains by the MNLA have been reported in the last three weeks.

Running Summary of News on the Uprising: “2012 insurgency in the Azawad” (Wikipedia)

Positions of Mali (dark green) and Libya (light green) in
Africa. Modified from this Wikimedia map (public domain).

The MNLA, although composed largely of Tuareg people, has also made a major effort to include Arabs, Songhai, and other peoples of “Azawad” (Northern Mali), where it hopes to establish an independent country. However, not all northerners support the revolt; Tuareg, Arabs, and members of other groups are fighting on both sides of the conflict. The MNLA is much better armed than previous revolutionary groups, partly because many exiled Tuareg rebel leaders have recently returned to Mali from nearby Libya – many of these veteran revolutionaries were employed and armed by the Libyan government, and eventually ended up fighting on both sides of that country’s 2011 civil war (a part of the Arab Spring revolutions). However, this new uprising also has the advantage of being the best organized yet, and of commanding a vastly more effective public relations network than ever before. The Malian government has also accused the rebels of being in league with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a local affiliate of the worldwide terrorist organization; however, evidence for this is scant, and many from the MNLA in fact consider AQIM to be among their greatest enemies.

Further Reading: “The Causes of the Uprising in Northern Mali” – Think Africa Press (excellent in-depth background and analysis by a Northern Mali expert)

Sources
2012-1-26. “Tuareg rebels attack fifth town in Mali”. Al Jazeera.
2012-1-31. “Tuareg rebels take Mali town after army pullout”. AFP.
2012-2-2. Stewart, Scott. “Mali Besieged by Fighters Fleeing Libya”. Stratfor Global Intelligence.
2012-2-6. Morgan, Andy. “The Causes of the Uprising in Northern Mali”. Think Africa Press.
2012-2-9. Diallo, Tiemoko & Adama Diarra. “Malian rebels seize key border town, civilians flee”. Reuters.

February 26, 2012

Syrian Uprising Rebel Control Map: February 2012

There are newer versions of this map available. To see them, view all Syria updates.

Known areas of armed activity for the rebel “Free Syrian Army” – many rural areas may be under full rebel
control. Unarmed protests, which are much more widespread than armed rebel activity, are not shown here. Map
is my own work, starting from this blank map by German Wikipedia user NordNordWest. License: CC BY-SA

[Corrections: This map has been corrected to show FSA control of Rastan, a city which they have held since the beginning of February, and to show the return of Zabadani to government control, a turn of events which occurred in mid-February.]

(Note: For further updates to this map, follow the Syria label on Political Geography Now.)

Syria Conflict Update
Since this site first reported on the situation in Syria, the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) has continued to gain ground against the government of President Bashar Al-Assad. As February began, Assad’s forces were wrapping up their campaign to reclaim the Damascus suburbs with a final victory in Douma; however, since then the uprising has continued to spread. In the north, FSA fighters solidified their control of Idlib city, and later took the nearby town of Saraqib. Meanwhile, as the government shelled disobedient neighborhoods in the central city of Homs, the rebels achieved a major victory in neighboring Qusayr, yesterday securing full control of the town. In the south, parts of the city of Daraa have also reportedly fallen to the FSA.

Two other changes to this map are corrections reflecting what was already the situation at the beginning of the month: (1) parts of the central city of Hama have reportedly been under FSA control since January, while (2) the rebels have reportedly been active in the eastern region of Deir ez-Zor since at least the end of last year. You can see the corrected version of the first map, along with the original report and background information, at the Syria Divided by Armed Conflict article.

Useful Link: Wikipedia – Timeline of the 2011-2012 Syrian Uprising

February 1, 2012

Syria Divided by Armed Conflict (Feb. 2012)

There are newer versions of this map available. To see them, view all Syria updates.

Country Name: Syria (English), Sūriyya/Sūryā (Arabic)
Official Name: Syrian Arab Republic (English), al-Jumhūriyyah al-‘Arabīyah as-Sūriyyah (Arabic)
News Category: Divided Countries, Intergovernmental Organizations
Summary: Ten months in Syria’s popular uprising, parts of the country have fallen out of government hands and into the control of the “Free Syrian Army,” a group made up mostly of defectors from the national military. Meanwhile, Syria has been been suspended from the Arab League due its government’s failure to stop using violence against unarmed protesters.

Known areas of armed activity for the rebel “Free Syrian Army” – many rural areas may be under full rebel
control. Unarmed protests, much more widespread than armed rebel activity, are not shown here. Map is my
own work, starting from this blank map by German Wikipedia user NordNordWest. License: CC BY-SA (Corrected
Feb. 26, 2012 for partial Hama control and eastern region activity; again on Mar. 9, 2012 for Rastan control.)

Full Story
The “Arab Spring” has brought incredible upheaval to the the Middle East and North Africa – first the Tunisian and Egyptian dictatorships fell to peaceful protesters; then Libya became embroiled in a civil war, while Yemen too began to fragment under opposing forces. Now, Syria has become the third country in the region to be divided between warring armies, as the 10-month-old uprising has given way to formidable armed resistance from a growing network of military defectors calling themselves the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA).

Wikipedia: Arab Spring

Even before the armed resistance began in earnest last September, the Syrian government and its president, Bashar al-Assad, were making headlines with their brutal crackdowns on peaceful protesters, along with tank-led sieges of disobedient cities. After six months of government violence, the FSA rebels burst onto the stage with a successful, if temporary, takeover of the anti-government city of Rastan (See News Bits: October 2011). They were eventually driven out of Rastan, and moved their headquarters across the border into Turkey, using the next three months to slowly consolidate control over the northwestern province of Idlib, while also gaining ground in the city of Homs and the provinces of Hama and Daraa. [Update: The FSA took control a of Rastan a second time just as this post was being written.]

Map of the Arab Spring. Protests, and in some cases full scale revolutions, have reached across the entire Arab
World. Map is from this Wikipedia page (public domain; original graphic).

All the while, the rebels were hitting targets closer and closer to the capital city of Damascus, until finally in January they successfully seized the nearby city of Zabadani. Fighting around the capital escalated quickly, with the FSA spreading its control across most of the suburbs of Damascus by January 27. Over the next few days, Assad’s government launched a largely successful offensive to take back the areas surrounding the capital, though the rebels still claim control of Douma, Damascus’s most populous suburb. The cities of Homs and Idlib are also reported to be largely under FSA control, along with much of rural Idlib province. And the territorial division in Syria may be even more extensive than we know – journalists have been forbidden to enter the country, making it difficult to follow developments on the ground.

Wikipedia: 2011–2012 Syrian uprising

The Arab League, with Syria in lighter green at top right.
Map by Danalm000, from Wikimedia (license: CC BY-SA)

Arab League Involvement
The League of Arab States (better known as the Arab League), an international organization of which Syria is a founding member, has taken a close interest in the events unfolding within the country. In November, the body voted to suspend Syria’s membership unless President Assad brought an end to the violence against civilian protesters. Assad failed to follow through with any concrete action, and the country was suspended from the League. In January, the organization sent a delegation of observers into Syria to examine the situation; they were allowed inside the country, but eventually were forced to leave due to escalating violence between government forces and the FSA. As the region’s main representative body, the Arab League will likely be a major player in any future decisions by the international community to intervene in Syria’s civil war.

Wikipedia: League of Arab States

November 7, 2011

Libya Reunited Under Rebels

Country Name (official): Libya (English), Lībyā (Arabic)
News Category: Divided Countries
Summary: Libya’s civil war came to an end two weeks ago, as rebels under the National Transitional Council (NTC) completed their two-month campaign to flush out the last forces loyal to dictator Muammar Gaddafi. After taking the capital city of Tripoli in August, the NTC had already assumed Libya’s seat in the United Nations, the African Union, and the Arab League, with formal recognition from 100 U.N. member states. With the end of the war, the air-based foreign military intervention that helped bring victory to the rebels has also now come to a close.

The NTC’s last campaigns to reunite Libya. Gaddafi-held cities (green) and
rebel-held cities (black) as of 2 Sep. Rebel movements and capture dates
in red. My own work based on public domain map from Wikipedia (source).

Full Story
Libya’s participation in the “Arab Spring” movement happening across the Middle East and North Africa began as a series of protests in February, and quickly transformed into an armed uprising after national leader Muammar Gaddafi responded with violent crackdowns. Soon the country’s territory was divided between Gaddafi’s government and rebel forces under the National Transitional Council (NTC), with the latter dominating the eastern half of the country as well as the western mountains near Tripoli, the national capital. A near-stalemate held for about five months, as a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone and NATO-led bombing campaign kept Gaddafi’s forces at bay. Then, in late August, the rebels suddenly stormed into Tripoli, taking the national capital and many of the surrounding areas. The Gaddafi government only remained in control of a few scattered cities and desert outposts.

The NTC’s official flag of Libya (bottom) has replaced that
of Gaddafi (top). Public domain, from this Wikipedia page.

For two months following the takeover of Tripoli, the NTC mounted a campaign to drive out the last bastions of Gaddafi loyalist control and reunite the country under their own banner. The first area to fall was the southwestern Fezzan, a desert region with Sabha as its major city, in mid-to-late September. Then came Tripoli’s neighbor Bani Walid on 17 October, and finally Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte three days later. As Sirte fell to the rebels, Gaddafi himself was finally captured, and soon died under mysterious circumstances. NTC Chair Mustafa Abdul Jalil declared the war officially over on 23 October. NATO’s enforcement and bombing mission ended one week later, following the U.N. Security Council’s withdrawal of its authorization for a no-fly zone and military protection of civilians. The rebel victory also brings an end to the dispute over the country’s flag (see illustration at left) and its official name, now just “Libya” rather than Gaddafi’s inventive “Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.”

Wikipedia: 2011 Libyan Civil War

As the NTC rebels expanded their control over the country and Libyan diplomats abroad defected by the dozen, many countries around the world made the gesture of recognizing the NTC as the legitimate government of Libya. One hundred U.N. member states and four non-member states have declared their recognition of the new government, though the point is largely moot now that the NTC officially represents Libya in the United Nations itself. On 16 September, the U.N. General Assembly voted by a majority to hand over the country’s seat to the NTC, with 114 countries in favor and only 17 countries from Africa and Latin America voting against (a number of other delegations abstained or were absent). The African Union, within which Muammar Gaddafi was until recently a prominent figure, had declined to fully support the rebels during the war, but finally authorized the NTC to hold Libya’s seat in the organization on 20 October. Libya is also a member of the Arab League, which handed representation over to the NTC after the fall of Tripoli in August. Prior to that, Libya’s Arab League membership had been suspended in support of the rebels.

Countries officially recognizing the NTC during the war in dark blue, and countries officially opposing it in dark red. Libya in yellow. Countries in lighter colors unofficially acknowledged or opposed the NTC through diplomatic activities or votes in the U.N. General Assembly. Slightly modified from public domain Wikimedia map (source).

Wikipedia: International Recognition of the National Transitional Council

September 3, 2011

Libyan Rebels Take Capital

Country Name: Libya (English), Lībyā (Arabic)
Official Name (National Transitional Council): Libya, Libyan Republic
Official Name (Gaddafi Regime): Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahariya (English), al-Jamāhīriyyah al-‘Arabiyyah al-Lībiyyah ash-Sha‘biyyah al-Ishtirākiyyah al-‘Uẓmá (Arabic)
News Category: Divided Countries
Summary: Libyan rebels last month took sudden control of the national capital of Tripoli and other cities, ending months of stalemate in the North African country’s civil war. Although the old government of Muammar Gaddafi maintains control of a few holdout cities, the rebel National Transitional Council is gaining increasing recognition internationally. The power transition is bringing with it changes to the country’s flag and official name.

Control of Libya on June 1 (left) and September 2 (right). Gaddafi-held cities in green, rebel-held cities in

black. Blue represents ongoing struggle for control. Public domain maps from Wikimedia (source).

Full Story
Libya’s division between warring factions began in mid-February of this year, during the height of the “Arab Spring” protests happening across the Middle East and North Africa. Dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt had recently fallen to popular protest movements, and many Libyans were fed up with their country’s erratic and sometimes brutal leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Protesters hit the streets, and when the government answered with violent crackdowns, the protesters fought back. Within days, several cities in eastern Libya had fallen to the rebels, who by the end of the month controlled most of the country’s east and some parts of the west. A government counteroffensive stalled after intervention by NATO, and the country was effectively divided in two, with rebel-held territories governed by the National Transitional Council (NTC) and the remainder under Gaddafi’s control.

Link: Interactive map of the Libyan uprising (February-April) – The New York Times

Control of northwestern Libya on June 1 (top) and September 2 (bottom).
Gaddafi-held territory is shown in light green; rebel-held territory is
shown in dark pink. Map by Wikimedia user Rafy (source; CC BY-SA).

The civil war in Libya remained in apparent stalemate for the next five months, with the two sides trading small amounts of territory but not making any major gains. All that changed in late August, when rebel forces suddenly began taking more western towns, then quickly stormed into the capital city of Tripoli, taking control and securing Gaddafi’s headquarters. More rebel gains followed on the eastern front. Gaddafi himself, along with much of his family, escaped from Tripoli and has not yet been located. Forces loyal to him remain in control of the cities of Sabha, Bani Walid, and Sirte – the last of which is Gaddafi’s hometown. Meanwhile, the NTC is in the process of moving its headquarters from its unnofficial capital in Benghazi to the official capital in Tripoli, and many Libyan embassies around the world have switched their allegiance from Gaddafi to the NTC. With international recognition for the NTC growing, the new government seems likely to soon fully replace Gaddafi as representative of the Libyan people on the international stage.

Wikipedia: 2011 Libyan Civil War

The flag of Libya under the Gaddafi regime (top) and under
the NTC (bottom). Public domain, from this Wikipedia page.

Changing Flag and Country Name
As with most revolutions, the rebellion in Libya has brought with it a changing identity. The rebel National Transitional Council, and the movement that spawned it, have been quick to discard any symbols of the Gaddafi regime. One of the most prominent of these symbols is the national flag. For decades, Gaddafi’s Libya has been known by it’s unique flag design: a plain, unmarked green rectangle. The rebel movement, on the other hand, has mostly used the flag of the Kingdom of Libya which Gaddafi overthrew, composed of red, black, and green stripes, with the crescent and star of the Ottoman Empire in white at the center. This was declared the official flag by the NTC, and is now flown at the United Nations and most of Libya’s embassies abroad.

Wikipedia: Flag of Libya

Another eccentricity of Gaddafi’s Libya was the country’s full official name, translated into English as the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. “Jamahiriya” is a word invented by Gaddafi for what he believed to be a unique and superior form of government, supposedly based on direct rule by the people. The word is a combination of the Arabic words jumhūriyya (“republic”) and jamāhīr (“the masses”). The NTC, again making a point of disassociating itself from Gaddafi, has preferred to simply refer to the country as “Libya”, occasionally using the term “Libyan Republic”.

International Recognition of the NTC
As the rebels and the National Transitional Council consolidate their control of the country, more and more countries are recognizing the NTC as the legitimate government of Libya. For most countries, which already recognize Libya as an independent country, this is a special diplomatic gesture of support for the rebels; or now that the NTC controls most of the country, a gesture of acceptance of the current state of affairs. The number of states recognizing the NTC has risen drastically, from only 11 when I reported on the situation two months ago, to a current total of 78 U.N. member states and two non-U.N. members (Palestine and Kosovo). Several more U.N. members have established diplomatic relations with the new Libyan government without making formal declarations of recognition. However, at least four countries – Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Ecuador, and Nicaragua – have stated their refusal to recognize the change in government.

Countries officially recognizing the National Transitional Council in dark blue; countries maintaining diplomatic relations with the NTC without official recognition in light blue; countries refusing to recognize the NTC in red;
Libya in yellow. Slightly modified from public domain Wikimedia map (source).

July 8, 2011

Yemen Fragments Under Uprising

Country Name: Yemen (English), Al Yaman (Arabic)
Official Name: Republic of Yemen (English), Al Jumhūriyyah al Yamaniyyah (Arabic)
News Category: Divided Countries
Summary: After months of unrest and popular opposition to the government, much of Yemen’s territory has fallen out of government control. Several areas are occupied by Islamist militants seeking to implement Sharia Law, while others have fallen under the control of various local groups and military defectors united in their demand for the removal of president and dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Rebel and Islamic extremist control in Yemen, according to news reports. Ansar al-Sharia and Al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are two related Islamic extremist groups. Unarmed protests not shown. Map is my
own work, based on this map by Wikipedia user NordNordWest (license: CC BY-SA). (Corrected: Nov. 20, 2011)

(Note: For updates to this map, follow the Yemen label on Political Geography Now.)

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When a country faces revolutionary change, the power of the people to oppose their government can result in a loss of control by the state, as opposition groups seize territory bit by bit. Despite the country maintaining international recognition as a single “nation-state”, the territory claimed by the state may become divided. While in many cases this means one large rebel group taking control of a large section of the country, in other cases the territory may fragment into various scattered regions under the control of multiple groups. This is the process that has been occurring in Yemen during recent months.

Yemen is located at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, south of Saudi Arabia. A republic made up of 20 provinces or “governorates”, it is the only country on the Arabian Peninsula with a democratic constitution; yet it also holds the unfortunate distinction of having the lowest standard of living of any country in the Arab world. Like many other allegedly democratic countries, Yemen has remained under the tight control of a single “president”, Ali Abdullah Saleh, for more than 30 years. The current unrest began in January of this year, as part of the “Arab Spring” movement that has seen protests across the Arab world and beyond, and which early on resulted in the overthrow of governments in Tunisia and Egypt. After months of protests, crackdowns, and stalled negotiations in Yemen, an armed uprising erupted in late May.

Armed opposition to President Saleh’s government has been undertaken by two largely separate groups. The first group is a loose coalition of “tribes” (social groups held together by family relations) and military defectors who support the peaceful protesters’ goal of ousting the president. The second group is a coalition of Islamist militants calling themselves Ansar al-Sharia (“Supporters of Islamic Law”), whose objective is to create an Islamic state in Yemen. The secular opposition groups are most active in Yemen’s populated western region, while Islamist activity is centered along the southern coast and in the sparsely populated regions of the east.

The series of 2011 protests and revolutions in the Arab world is sometimes called the “Arab Spring”. Yemen is
located at the lower right. Map is from this Wikipedia page (public domain; original graphic).

(More Yemen news from Political Geography Now)