The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) was created late last year in a merger of several predominantly Tuareg groups seeking to seize territory in northern Mali.

A security source told AFP that Nigerien security services arrested Inkinane Ag Attaher, who the FLA says is a "commander within the Azawad army", in charge of training fighting units.

"For us, he's a terrorist," the Nigerien source said, adding that the suspect had two passports in his possession when arrested -- one Nigerien, the other Malian.

"The arrest in Niger took place between the Dosso region and the town of Birnin Konni, in southern Niger on the border with Nigeria," a local Tuareg source told AFP.

Bamako may soon request his extradition, according to a Malian source.

Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, three countries governed by military juntas, have formed their own confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), set up initially as a defence pact in 2023.

Attaher deserted from the Malian army and, in 2012, joined the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a group of separatist rebels who ousted the army from several regions in northern Mali.

Several Sahel observers consider him to be very active in the FLA's international networks, particularly those connected to Ukraine.

Since coming to power, Mali's ruling military junta has ended the country's long-standing alliance with former colonial power France and European partners, turning instead to Russia.

Mali has accused Kyiv of supporting the separatist group against its army, through training and logistics.

On X, Attaher has regularly displayed his support for Ukraine.

Mali and Niger broke off diplomatic relations with Ukraine in August 2024, a few weeks after the Malian army and its allies from Russia's Wagner mercenary group suffered a heavy blow against separatists and jihadists near the border with Algeria.

A Ukrainian military intelligence official had implied that Kyiv provided information to the rebels to enable them to carry out their attack.

The separatists resumed hostilities against the state and the army in 2023 as the United Nations stabilisation mission was pushed out by the ruling junta.

Since then, the armed separatist groups have lost control of several towns in the north, following an offensive by the Malian army that culminated in the capture of Kidal, a bastion of independence and a major sovereignty issue for the central government.

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AES CORPORATION

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