Terror in Mali: What You Should Know

A hostage siege at a hotel in Bamako, Mali's capital, has again drawn international attention to the West African nation, nearly three years after France launched a military campaign against Islamic extremists in the country's north.

The campaign, Operation Serval, was widely considered a success in driving jihadists from Mali's northern towns. What has happened since then to have led to today's dramatic events?

Mali has suffered instability:

Mali, a former French colony and majority-Muslim nation of 17 million people, became independent in 1960. Like most formerly colonized countries, it went through growing pains, enduring droughts, rebellions and years of military dictatorship. But since it first held democratic elections in 1992, and was viewed as a reasonably strong democracy, with a growing economy and relative social stability.

The nation made headlines after upheavals of 2012:
In January 2012, an uprising by rebels from the Tuareg ethnic minority began in the country's vast, sparsely populated north.

Tuareg and Arab communities there claim they are marginalized by the sub-Saharan ethnic groups in the more prosperous south.

These rebellions are nothing new: Mali faced Tuareg rebellions in the 1960s, 1990s and 2000s.

But the perceived failure of President Amadou Toure to deal with the most recent uprising led to a military coup in March. Shortly afterwards, the Tuareg, led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, or MNLA, took advantage of the power vacuum and declared the secession of a new northern state, Azawad.

Islamist forces who had helped the Tuareg in their fight against government forces, including al Qaeda-allied Ansar Dine, soon took control. Militants destroyed ancient shrines in Timbuktu, once a major draw for Islamic scholars from around the world. They imposed Sharia law, banning music, watching sports and smoking. Reports of human rights abuses soared.