Downtown Ubari has been divided by active frontlines with snipers on both sides, displacing the civilians that live there. (Photo by Mauricio Morales)
Tendi Mountain overlooks Ubari and is a key position in the fighting. (Photo by Mauricio Morales)
Economic gain and the specter of terrorism continue to be dominant interests in Libya's oil and mineral-rich south. The French run military operations out of Madama, a counterterrorism base in Niger 100 kilometers south of the Libyan border, and control a huge, lucrative uranium mine that poses a radioactive threat to the impoverished Tuareg living on the land.'Any entrance of foreign armies will create big problems.'
Many families in Ubari live without electricity, running water, and other necessities. (Photo by Mauricio Morales)
Tuareg men pray in the Sahara dessert near the algerian border in south Libya. (Photo by Mauricio Morales)
Downtown Ubari has seen urban combat for the control of the town between Tuareg and Tebu fighters. (Photo by Mauricio Morales)
A group of Tuareg tribal elders meet to address issues in Ghat and Ubari. (Photo by Mauricio Morales)
Campo is one of the Ubari neighborhoods controlled by young Tuareg fighters. (Photo by Mauricio Morales)
"They want to say we have problems with the Tuareg, but we don't," said Mohammed Lino, a Tebu activist from the nearby town of Murzuq. "We have a problem with terrorists."'They want to say we have problems with the Tuareg, but we don't. We have a problem with terrorists.'
Tuareg fighters prepare dinner at a checkpoint on one of the entry roads they control to Ubari. (Photo by Mauricio Morales)