the mali war has been ongoing since 2012. the war has three sides. one side is mali, who are supported by many other countries. another, many of whom are tuareg people, are separatists who want northern mali - which they call azawad - to become a separate country. northern mali is hot desert and is in the southern part of the sahara. the third side is islamist groups - including islamic state of iraq and the levant and al-qaeda - who want mali to be part of an islamist caliphate.