| 2017 Indelimane ambush | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mali War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Mali |  Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin Islamic State in the Greater Sahara | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
 3 killed, 17 injured 1 killed, 1 injured | 2 killed | ||||||
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.
Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin was formed in 2017 as a coalition of five different jihadist groups that had been rebelling against the Malian government since 2012. [1] Prior to the attack in Indelimane, the group attacked a MINUSMA base in Timbuktu. [2] On the same day of the Indelimane ambush, JNIM attacked a MINUSMA base in Douentza, killing one MINUSMA peacekeeper and injuring three others. [3]
The ambush occurred at 5am at a MINUSMA camp in the village of Indelimane, Ménaka Cercle. [3] The attack was marked by a rain of rockets that hit the peacekeepers and Malian troops, which was followed up by a frontal attack by the jihadists. [4] MINUSMA reported that several attackers were killed, and the ambush was repulsed. [5] The peacekeepers then sent out in pursuit of the attackers. [6]
Three MINUSMA peacekeepers were killed in the ambush, along with sixteen others injured and one civilian employee injured. [3] The Malian government stated one Malian soldier was killed and one injured. [3] A Nigerien contingent of peacekeepers were on patrol at the time of the attack. [7]
JNIM claimed responsibility for the attack on November 25, and released a statement claiming five Nigerien soldiers were killed along with two JNIM fighters. [8] [9] Interviews with witnesses to the attack reported that fighters from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara participated in the ambush, in the first confirmed collaboration between the two groups. [10]
In early 2018, GATIA and the MSA, alongside French troops, fought several skirmishes against JNIM and the Islamic State in the vicinity of Indelimane.
Amadou Koufa, nom de guerre of Amadou Diallo, also spelled Hamadoun Kouffa or Amadou Kouffa is a Malian Fulani jihadist and preacher who founded Katiba Macina, later part of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.
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 November 18, 2019, Malian troops were ambushed by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara during a patrol of Tabankort, in Ménaka Cercle, Mali.
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 Ménaka offensive was a series of offensives launched by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara against the Malian Army, Tuareg self-defense groups including the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA) and Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies (GATIA), and the al-Qaeda-aligned Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin. The offensives took place in the Ménaka Cercle, in southeastern Mali.
The battle of Boulikessi took place between September 30 and October 1, 2019. Jihadists from JNIM and Ansarul Islam attacked Malian bases in Boulikessi and Mondoro, killing between 40 and 85 Malian soldiers, making it the deadliest attack for the Malian army since the Second Battle of Kidal in 2014.
Operation Tiésaba-Bourgou was a joint Franco-Malian operation against Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and Ansarul Islam near the Malian, Burkinabe, and Nigerien borders.
The raid on Dioura was an attack on a Malian military base in the town of Dioura, Mali, by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) on March 17, 2019.
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 January 27, 2018, militants from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Coalition of the People of Azawad attacked a Malian military base in Soumpi, Mali.
On August 14, 2017, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked a MINUSMA base in Timbuktu, Mali.
On June 17, 2017, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked Malian forces in Bintagoungou, Tombouctou Region, 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 May 18, 2016, militants from Ansar Dine ambushed Chadian forces north of Aguelhok, Mali.
On October 3, 2014, nine Nigerien peacekeepers were killed in an ambush by al-Mourabitoun in Indelimane, 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 battle of Ber took place between August 11 and 12, 2023, between the Malian Armed Forces and the Wagner Group against fighters of the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM). The battle was the first major confrontation between the CMA and Malian forces since the signing of the Algiers Accords, and led to the breakdown of the accords by late 2023.
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.
On May 14, 2019, jihadists from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) attacked Nigerien forces in Baley Beri, Niger, killing twenty-seven Nigerien soldiers.
