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WHEN Malian football star Seydou Keita got the news that Tuareg rebels in the North had killed his countrymen,and were serious about secession,he broke down in tears.
"I'm appealing to the people to stop.It's not normal,we don't do that.We need peace,we are all Malians," Keita said.
That was one year ago.
In the ensuing chaos,a coup took place on March 22,2012 in the country's capital of Bamako,which overturned the then President Amadou Toumani Toure.
The Tuareg rebels declared a region in the north of Mali,known as Azawad,as an independent state (consisting of land in Burkina Faso,Mali,Niger and Algeria),allowing a handful of Islamists seeking to impose their jihadist views on the region to take advantage,hijacking the Tuareg rebellion and taking control of the north.This triggered the current crisis.In the ensuing and ongoing chaos,life for locals deteriorated.According to the UN Refugee Agency,the conflict is expected to displace about 700,000 people.This is in addition to the 350,000residents who were forced to flee from their homes in 2012.