Azawad?

I just saw a video this morning about the alliance between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, and the person in the video mentioned the Tuareg rebels and the unrecognized Azawad region in Mali. I'm not sure why, but this piqued my interest. Who are the Tuaregs? Why do they claim the Azawad region is theirs? There seems to be a deep history behind it, but I don't see many resources about it outsude of Wikipedia.

If anyone finds this, feel free to share your perspectives and any useful resources.

Also, I wasn't sure whether to put this in the "News and Politics" category or "Travel and Places". I feel like this topic fits both and neither. If there was just a "World" section, that'd be cool.