| 2016 Aguelhok ambush | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mali War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Ansar Dine | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 6 killed 2 wounded | Unknown | ||||||
| 1 civilian killed | |||||||
On May 18, 2016, militants from Ansar Dine ambushed Chadian forces north of Aguelhok, Mali.
Aguelhok had been the site of a massacre by Tuareg separatists in the early days of the Mali War. Afterwards, Chadian peacekeepers as part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) staffed a base there. [1]
Around 5 pm, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of Aguelhok, the Chadian peacekeepers hit a mine laid by Ansar Dine on the road, while they were escorting a logistics convoy. [1] Four soldiers were killed in the initial blast, prompting jihadists on the east and west ditches to open fire on the convoy, with Chadian soldiers fighting back. The attackers stalled after a period of time, possibly fleeing. A MINUSMA plane flew over the site that night, and Chadian soldiers conducted patrols in the area the next day. [2]
The attack was claimed on May 19 by Ansar Dine in a press release by Noureddine Ag Mohamed. Mohamed claimed "many enemies have remained lying down forever", but did not give a toll. [2] MINUSMA announced that same day that five Chadian soldiers were killed in the ambush, and three were injured. One of the wounded succumbed to his wounds on May 24, bringing the toll to six killed and two wounded. [3]
Three people were arrested by Chadian forces for the attack. One, a Tuareg shepherd, died in captivity on May 19 a few hours after his arrest. Two other suspects were released, a son and a relative of the shepherd. [1]
The Battle of Aguelhok occurred when rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and Islamists groups Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb attacked a Malian army garrison base in the town of Aguelhok, Kidal Region of Northern Mali on 17 January 2012, as part of the larger Tuareg rebellion to seize all government bases in the region.
The battle of In Emsal took place during the Tuareg rebellion of 2012. On 20 January, a Malian military convoy that came to rescue the garrison of Aguelhoc was ambushed by rebels of MLNA, and terrorists of Ansar Dine and AQIM.
Ba Ag Moussa was a Malian militant and jihadist.
An Islamist insurgency has been ongoing in the Sahel region of West Africa since the 2011 Arab Spring. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.
On April 2, 2021, insurgents from the al-Qaeda-linked group Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) attacked a contingent of Chadian troops serving in MINUSMA, the UN's peacekeeping branch throughout the Mali War. The Chadian troops effectively repelled the JNIM attack, inflicting heavy casualties.
The battle of Ber took place on October 27, 2018, after Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) militants attacked a MINUSMA base manned by Burkinabe soldiers in Ber, Mali.
The 2019 Aguelhok attack was an attack by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin against the MINUSMA base in Aguelhok, Mali on January 20, 2019. At the time of the attack, the base was defended by Chadian and Bengali peacekeepers and was later aided by French forces as part of Operation Barkhane.
On November 24, 2017, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin ambushed Nigerien MINUSMA peacekeepers and Malian soldiers in the village of Indelimane, Mali.
On August 14, 2017, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked a MINUSMA base in Timbuktu, Mali.
On May 29, 2016, Katiba Macina militants ambushed Togolese peacekeepers in MINUSMA near Sévaré, Mali. The attack was the first deadly attack against UN peacekeepers in Mopti Region during the Mali War, and the first major engagement involving Togolese peacekeepers during the war.
On January 15, 2016, unknown militants ambushed Malian forces near Wanna, in Goundam Cercle, Mali.
Between December 24–25, 2015, Ansar Dine militants attacked National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) positions in Talahandak, Mali. Ansar Dine captured the MNLA outpost, and then ambushed CMA reinforcements.
On July 2, 2015, a MINUSMA convoy was ambushed by jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb en route from Goundam to Timbuktu.
Cheikh Ag Aoussa, nom de guerre Abou Mohame, was a Tuareg rebel leader and prominent drug trafficker.
Abdou Aïssa, nom de guerre Sultan Ould Bady, is a Malian jihadist and drug trafficker. He co-founded the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) with Hamada Ould Mohamed Kheirou and Ahmed al-Tilemsi, and founded Katibat Salahadin, a katiba within MOJWA that later reformed in the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara after Bady defected.
On October 3, 2014, nine Nigerien peacekeepers were killed in an ambush by al-Mourabitoun in Indelimane, Mali.
On 11 June 2014, a suicide bomber attacked the MINUSMA base in Aguelhok, Mali, killing several Chadian peacekeepers.
On November 8, 2013, clashes broke out between Malian forces and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) in Amazragane, Ménaka Region, Mali.
On October 23, 2013, Katiba Salahadin militants attacked Chadian peacekeepers in the city of Tessalit, sparking a battle between the militants and Chadian and French forces. The attack was the first attack by jihadists targeting MINUSMA peacekeepers during the Mali War.
The Kidal offensive was an offensive by the Malian government and Wagner Group mercenaries against the rebel coalition Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security, and Development (CSP-PSD) with the aim of capturing the rebel-held region of Kidal. The offensive was part of a renewed conflict between the Malian junta that took power in 2021 and former Tuareg rebel groups that had signed the Algiers Agreement in 2015, creating a ceasefire and de facto rebel control over the region. The offensive was also an attempt by Malian forces to seize control over MINUSMA camps in Kidal Region after the Malian junta had ordered the mission to leave the country by the end of 2023.
Au Mali, cinq casques bleus de la Mission onusienne ont été tués mercredi 18 mai dans la région de Kidal, au nord d'Aguelhok. Trois soldats ont aussi été blessés grièvement. Il s'agit de militaires du contingent tchadien qui ont été pris dans une embuscade. L'attaque a été revendiqué jeudi par le groupe jihadiste Ansar Dine.
