Bilal Ag Acherif () (born 1977 in Kidal Region, Mali, last name alternatively spelled Cherif) is the Secretary-General of the
National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and president of a briefly independent
Azawad
Azawad, or Azawagh (Tuareg: Azawaɣ, or Azawad; ar, أزواد) was a short-lived unrecognised state from 2012 to 2013. Azawagh (''Azawaɣ'') is the generic Tuareg Berber name of all Tuareg Berber areas, especially the northern half of Mal ...
.
In 1993, he left Mali for Libya to study political science and later returned in 2010.
On 26 June 2012, he was wounded in clashes between MNLA fighters and the Islamist
Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa
The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (abbreviated MOJWA) or the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (abbreviated MUJWA; ar, جماعة التوحيد والجهاد في غرب أفريقيا ''Jamāʿat at-tawḥīd wal-jih ...
during the
northern Mali conflict
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Mali War
, partof = the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel and the War on terror
, image = MaliWar.svg
, image_size = 380
, caption = Military situation ...
. According to an MNLA spokesperson, he was taken to
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana t ...
for medical care.
In 2014, Bilal Ag Acherif took over the
Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA)'s presidency, until being succeeded by Alghabass Ag Intalla on December 16, 2016.
References
1977 births
Berber Malians
Living people
Tuareg people
People from Kidal Region
Members of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad
Heads of state of former unrecognized countries
21st-century Malian people
{{Mali-politician-stub