| Kidal suicide attack | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Northern Mali conflict | |
| Location | Kidal, Mali |
| Coordinates | 18°26′15″N1°24′30″E / 18.43750°N 1.40833°E |
| Date | 12 April 2013 9:50 (UTC) |
| Target | Chadian soldiers |
Attack type | Suicide attack |
| Weapons | Explosive belt |
| Deaths | 4 soldiers, suicide bomber |
| Injured | 3 soldiers, 5 civilians |
| Perpetrator |  MOJWA |
On 12 April 2013, four Chadian soldiers were killed, and five civilians were injured, in an attack by two suicide bombers affiliated with the MOJWA in Kidal, Mali.
In early February 2013, Chadian and French troops occupied Kidal, using it as a key military base to house their troops and to renew counter-attacks on jihadists rebels in the Adrar des Ifoghas, situated just north of the city. The city has been targeted on several occasions since then. [1] [2] On 5 April, after the French-led Operation Panther had ended, the Chadian army left the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains after weeks of battling Islamists to return their main base located on the outskirts of Kidal, bringing the number of troops there to 1,800.[ citation needed ]
On Friday morning 12 April 2013, a group of Chadian soldiers stationed in Kidal went to the local market to buy supplies. At around 9:50 am, according to eyewitnesses, once the group made its debut a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belts in a nearby market stall, while Chadian soldiers were passing by, killing three soldiers instantly and severely wounding four more in the explosion. [3] According to residents, the incident occurred on a street commonly frequented by Chadian soldiers, located about 100 meters from the town market itself. [4] According to witness accounts, the first bomber was said to have been neutralized before he could explode his belt, but the second one succeeded, letting off a deadly blast that destroyed part of the market and also injured five bystanders. However, Chadian and MNLA authorities claim only one suicide bomber took part in the attack itself. Immediately following the explosion, Chadian soldiers fired automatic weapons in the air, in an attempt to disperse the crowd from reaching the scene of the blast. [5] According to Kidal's deputy mayor Abda Ag Kazina, the four soldiers were in a state of critical condition. The expected death toll was likely to rise. [6] Following the explosion, army checkpoints were placed at the four main entrances to Kidal, in fear that more suicide bombers can infiltrate the city, as easily as they did that morning. [7] The same day, a Chadian security source issued a statement indicating that MOJWA (The Movement of Oneness and Jihadism in West Africa) was responsible for the suicide attack. According to inhabitants of the city, after the suicide bombing occurred, Chadian soldiers succumbed to fear and turned their weapons against civilians, firing live rounds of ammunition that injured five bystanders. [8] A fourth Chadian soldier who was injured in the attack died overnight at a hospital in Gao. [9] The three other wounded soldiers were evacuated to a military hospital Bamako, where from their military officials claim that they were in no life-threatening condition. [10]
The same day, a suspect in the name of Sidi Amar Ould Algor, ranked a colonel in the MNLA, was arrested by Chadian soldiers in connection to the earlier bombings, where he admitted he was the owner of the car that drove the future-suicide bomber to the Kidal market, where moments later he blew himself up. Tensions were raised following his arrest, as the MNLA never granted the Chadian army permission to take custody of one of its fighters. [11]
Earlier on the same day as the suicide attack, a Chadian Air Force helicopter (probably a Mil Mi-17 Hip-H) crashed around 50 km northeast of the Malian town of Sevare, killing all five occupants, including a senior military officer. [12]
Two days after the attack, Chadian president Idriss Deby announced Chad would withdraw its troops, citing the jihadists' guerrilla tactics. [13]
The Mali War is an ongoing conflict that started in January 2012 between the northern and southern parts of Mali in Africa. On 16 January 2012, several insurgent groups began fighting a campaign against the Malian government for independence or greater autonomy for northern Mali, which they called Azawad. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), an organization fighting to make this area of Mali an independent homeland for the Tuareg people, had taken control of the region by April 2012.
The Battle of Ifoghas, also known as the Battle of Tigharghâr or the Battle of the Ametettai, took place from 18 February to 31 March 2013, during the Northern Mali conflict. The French army and the Chadian army fought armed Salafist jihadist groups led by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Ansar Dine. After being defeated in January in the Battle of Konna and the Battle of Diabaly, the jihadists abandoned Timbuktu and retreated into the Adrar Tigharghar, a mountain of the Adrar of Ifoghas in northeastern Mali, which has been their sanctuary for years. The French started quickly a pursuit, and they took control of the towns of Tessalit and Aguelhok and begun the operation Panther in the Tigharghar. The first clashes erupt on February 18 and are mainly concentrated in the Ametettai Valley. It is caught between two armored columns, one French to the west and another Chadian to the east, while the paratroopers manage to surprise the jihadists by attacking on foot from the north. The valley is taken on March 3 and jihadists begin to gradually abandon the Tigharghar. Excavation missions and some skirmishes, however, continue to take place the following days. The operations cease on March 31. The battle was a turning point in the war, as with the capture of the Tigharghar, the jihadists lose their main sanctuary in the Sahel as well as most of their military arsenal, taken from the Malian army or Libya.
Operation Serval was a French military operation in Mali. The aim of the operation was to oust Islamic militants from the north of Mali, who had begun a push into the center of Mali.
The following is a timeline of major events during the Northern Mali conflict.
Operation Panther was a French military operation in Mali that was launched in February 2013.
The Third Battle of Gao was fought in the city of Gao on 9–11 February 2013, during the Northern Mali Conflict. It was a raid on the city by rebel MOJWA forces. The raiders were defeated by Malian government forces with the support of troops from France.
The Battle of Timbuktu occurred in Timbuktu, Mali, in March 2013, between Islamist groups and Mali government forces supported by France.
The Second Battle of Timbuktu was a battle during the Mali War between March 30 and April 1, 2013, in which two Islamist attacks targeted the Malian army in Timbuktu. With help from the French, both attacks were prevented from capturing any significant sites in the city.
Chadian intervention in northern Mali refers to military intervention by Chad during the Mali War. Since its first deployment, the Chadian military has suffered 100 casualties.
The Azawad conflict has been a conflict in Northern Mali between the MNLA, a Tuareg nationalist group, and a coalition of Islamist groups. The conflict began when Northern Mali declared itself independent from the government, creating the unrecognized state of Azawad. The Islamists and MNLA formed an alliance in combatting the Malian government. An internal conflict sprung up over the imposing of sharia law in the new state and the MNLA distancing itself from the coalition to a democratic state. Islamists gained popularity amongst anti-Tuareg tribes which helped them overthrow MNLA authority in Gao. Both sides clashed repeatedly leading to the Battle of Gao, where the MNLA were driven from the North's two main cities, Gao and Timbuktu. The MNLA soon lost all of its strongholds in the North in a matter of months. They went into hiding secretly gaining support and strength. The beginning of 2013 led to the start of the French intervention in Mali that ousted the Islamists from the North's cities and brought back Malian authority. The MNLA supported the French and Chadian forces in military operations against Islamists' sanctuaries in the mountains. The MNLA recaptured several important towns in the Kidal Region but refused to disarm or hand them over to the Malian government. A series of Islamist-sponsored terror attacks plagued MNLA forces for siding with the French. Checkpoints and bases were targeted with suicide bombings that targeted MNLA members. A peace deal was reached with the Malian army in June that let the army transverse freely in MNLA-occupied zones that were under Malian jurisdiction. Ethnic violence sprung over the murder of a Tuareg Government officer's family. The MNLA responded by harassing and murdering Fulani civilians, who constitute a majority of Islamist rebels. The Islamists stepped up their attacks in one such instance massacring 30 Tuareg merchants. The MNLA has since been battling Islamists.
The following lists events that happened during 2013 in the Republic of Mali.
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.
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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.
Hamada Ag Hama, also known as Abdelkrim Taleb or Abdelkrim al-Targui was a Malian jihadist and emir of Katiba Al Ansar, a brigade in Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
On 11 June 2014, a suicide bomber attacked the MINUSMA base in Aguelhok, Mali, killing several Chadian peacekeepers.
On 14 December 2013, Katibat Salahadin militants launched a suicide car bomb attack on Senegalese peacekeepers and Malian soldiers in front of the Malian Solidarity Bank, located in the city of Kidal. Residents of Kidal stated that the attack was one of the most destructive since the beginning of the Mali War.
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.
Between May 17 and 18, 2013, the town of Anéfis, at the time controlled by the MNLA, was attacked by the Arab Movement of Azawad's pro-government faction. The MAA captured the town, but quickly abandoned it. The battle occurred amid high tensions between Kunta Arabs and Lemhar Arabs.
On February 26, 2013, militants from MOJWA conducted a suicide bombing on fighters from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and Islamic Movement of Azawad (MIA) in Kidal, Mali.