The Tuareg are the indigenous people of the Sahara desert.

They are one of the poorest and most isolated peoples in the world - and one of the most militarised.

They are an army of the poor in a land of astounding natural wealth; an animal-herding people in a dying world of drought.

For decades, many Tuareg men have left their homes in search of work in neighbouring countries. Thousands ended up in Libya, as workers and fighters, and many

as mercenaries for slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

In late 2011, after Gaddafi's death, thousands of them returned to their Saharan homeland in Niger and Mali.

But having lost access to the country that was their only source of livelihood, they came home to find little more than crushing poverty, hunger and drought.

Barely able to feed their children amidst total state neglect, the men launched a rebellion to found their own country - for which they had already chosen a flag and

an old Tuareg name: Azawad.

But the Tuaregs would not be the only ones to emerge from a collapsing Libya with a lot of guns, and a plan. Al-Qaeda was also preparing for a fight.

To follow the story, watch Al Jazeera's three-part series Orphans of the Sahara

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraThe Tuareg are the indigenous people of the Sahara, the world's largest desert

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraThey are divided by colonial history between Mali and Algeria, Libya, Niger and Burkina Faso

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraThe Tuareg of the Sahara are among the poorest and most isolated people in the world

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraBuried under Tuareg land are the richest energy deposits on the African continent

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraParts of the Sahara are the poorest in the world

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraFor decades, Libya saw a mass influx of Tuareg men, many of them mercenaries for Muammar Gaddafi. Earnings from Libya supported hundreds of thousands of lives back home

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraAfter the Libyan revolution and the death of Gaddafi, thousands of Tuareg fighters returned to their homelands in northern Mali and Niger,

carrying everything they owned

/May Welsh /Al Jazeera

The Tuareg fighters returning to Mali had Gaddafi's guns and a plan to create an independent state

/May Welsh /Al Jazeera

The Tuareg have risen up seven times against Mali and Niger since their independence in 1960. Their dream for an independent state threatens five regional countries and the vital interests of France

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraTuaregs were not the only ones to emerge from a collapsing Libya with a lot of guns, and a plan. Al-Qaeda and Ansar Dine were also planning a fight

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraLike northern Mali, northern Niger is filled with former Tuareg rebels and soldiers back from Libya, who dream of a Tuareg state

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraThe area contains one of the most lucrative uranium mines in the world, but very few benefits reach the people

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraMost Tuareg live far from amenities like running water, electricity, schools or hospitals

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraAccess to the most basic elements of life is a daily struggle for the people of northern Niger and northern Mali

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraIn this region, the only kind of school most Tuareg children go to in the morning is a Qur'an class in the sand

/May Welsh /Al JazeeraMost children in this region grow up to be illiterate