3,000-yr-old Sahara dance contest still alive

In one hand, the dancers hold swords symbolising battle. On the other hand, a piece of cloth symbolising peace. They dance a shuffling “step-step” to the beat of drums and chanting from the women encircling them, all adorned in their finest traditional garments and jewellery.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

They're performing the rituals of the 3,000-year-old annual Sebeiba festival of Djanet, a southeastern Algerian oasis town deep in the Sahara, just over 200 kilometres from the Libyan border.

Sebeiba is a core tradition of the Tuareg people, native to the Sahara and parts of West Africa. The Tuareg are Muslim, and their native language is Tamasheq, though many speak some combination of French, Modern Standard Arabic, Algerian Arabic (Darija) and English.