Ethnic groups in Algeria

In a riot of color, music and dance, thousands of Tuareg have flocked to the Sebeiba festival that marks the end of an ancient tribal feud and which once a year transforms an oasis town deep in the Algerian Sahara.

Algeria was mobilising the army on July 9 after 22 people were killed in the worst ethnic clashes between Berbers and Arabs in years, as more details emerged of the violence.

At least 22 people have died in fighting between Berbers and Arabs in southern Algeria, the bloodiest toll in two years of frequent clashes between the communities, national news agency APS reported on July 8.

The nomadic Tuareg tribe of the Sahara are so progressive that they put liberal societies to shame. For centuries the tribe would cross the desert, oftentimes led by the blind who used their heightened sense of smell and taste to choose the right path.