Battle of Abala

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Battle of Abala
Part of Jihadist insurgency in Niger
DateMay 31 – June 1, 2017
Location
Abala and Bani-Bangou, Niger and Menaka Region, Mali
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Flag of Niger.svg Niger
Flag of Mali.svg Mali
GATIA flag.svg GATIA
Flag of the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad.svg MSA
Flag of France.svg France 		Islamic State flag.svg Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
Commanders and leaders
Unknown Mohamed Ag Almouner
Casualties and losses
Flag of Niger.svg 6 killed, 1 missing 15 killed

Between May 31 and June 1, 2017, clashes broke out between Nigerien forces and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) near Abala, Niger. These clashes expanded to the Nigerien-Malian border near Bani-Bangou, and on June 1 the ISGS militants were confronted by French, Malian, and Tuareg militias when the militants fled towards Ménaka Region, Mali.

Contents

Background

Since its emergence in October 2016 and its first attacks on the Koutoukole prison and possibly Nigerien forces in Tazalit, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara began conducting attacks along the Nigerian-Malian-Burkinabe tri-border area. [1] In late 2016 and early 2017, the group began more and more attacks on Nigerien forces, including at Bani-Bangou, Tilwa, and Wanzarbé.

Battle

The attack on Abala took place at 7pm on the afternoon of May 31. The jihadists attacked a patrol of Nigerien forces with 11 to 14 pick-ups, including at least two equipped with 14.5mm machine guns. [2] [3] The jihadists were led by a commander named Mohamed Ag Almouner, known as Tinka. [4] The vehicles had been stolen from an earlier raid on Nigerien forces on Ayorou on May 11, leading the Nigerien forces present in Abala to believe that the jihadists were instead their comrades. [5] [6] Fighting between the two groups ended at nightfall. The jihadists then retreated from the area with four newly captured vehicles. [3]

Nigerien forces continued combing and cleanup operations in the area following the attack, and fighting with the ISGS resumed the next day near Bani-Bangou on the Nigerien-Malian border. [3] [6] The Nigerien Army deployed helicopters and recaptured two of the four vehicles. [7] French planes also were deployed to the area to combat the jihadists. [2] [3] The ISGS militants fled to Ménaka Region of Mali, where they were confronted by Malian and French forces alongside the Tuareg militias of GATIA and the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad. [8]

Aftermath

AFP reported that four Nigerien National Guardsmen and two gendarmes were killed, and one soldier was missing. [2] [7] [3] The French Army stated on June 8 that the majority of the attackers were killed or wounded, and that some of the equipment stolen during the initial attack was recaptured. [9] RFI stated that fifteen jihadists were killed. [9]

The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara was accused of the attack. [3] In late June, ISGS leader Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi accused Imghad and Daoussahak Tuaregs of being accomplices of France and Niger, and threatened Moussa Ag Acharatoumane and El Hadj Ag Gamou, the heads of the MSA and GATIA respectively. [8] [9] ISGS claimed responsibility for the attack on January 12, 2018, in a statement published in the Nouakchott Information Agency. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State – Sahel Province</span> Islamic State affiliate

The Islamic State – Sahel Province(ISSP), formerly known as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), is an Islamist militant group adhering to the ideology of Salafi Jihadism. IS-GS was formed on 15 May 2015 as the result of a split within the militant group Al-Mourabitoun. The rift was a reaction to the adherence of one of its leaders, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, to the Islamic State. From March 2019 to 2022, IS-GS was formally part of the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP); when it was also called "ISWAP-Greater Sahara". In March 2022, IS declared the province autonomous, separating it from its West Africa Province and naming it Islamic State – Sahel Province (ISSP).

The 2017 Ayorou attack occurred on 21 October 2017 when armed militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked a Nigerien military outpost in the village of Ayorou in southwestern Niger, killing 13 gendarmes. Occurring just weeks after a similar attack in the area killed four American and four Nigerien troops, the attack was carried out by ISGS gunmen who crossed the porous border from Mali.

The Battle of Andéramboukane occurred between 4 and 5 June 2022, during the Ménaka offensive of the Mali War. The pro-government militias Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA) and Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies (GATIA) attempted to retake the Islamic State-held town of Andéramboukane but were unsuccessful.

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 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.

On December 11 and 12, 2018, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara fighters attacked Daoussahak Tuareg refugee camps in the villages of Tinabaw, Tabangout and Tissalatatene, all in the Ménaka Cercle of Mali. Between 43 and 47 civilians were killed by ISGS.

The battle of Akabar took place on April 1, 2018, between French and Malian forces aided by Tuareg rebels against Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

On December 3, 2023, jihadists from the Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISSP) launched simultaneous attacks against Malian forces and allied Wagner Group mercenaries in Labbézanga, Gao Region, and against Tuareg militia groups in Ménaka Region.

The Tchoma Bangou and Zaroumdareye massacres took place on January 2, 2021, when 105 people were killed and 75 injured in attacks by Islamic State in the Greater Sahara on the villages of Tchoma Bangou and Zaroumdareye in Tondikiwindi, Ouallam Department, Niger. The massacres were one of the deadliest events in Nigerien history.

On October 30, 2014, militants from al-Mourabitoun attacked a refugee camp in Mangaïzé, Niger as part of a simultaneous three-pronged attack on Nigerien forces in Mangaïzé, Ouallam, and Bani-Bangou.

The Tazalit attack, also known as the Tazalit massacre, occurred on October 6, 2016, when unknown jihadists attacked Nigerien forces at the Tazalit refugee camp in Niger, killing dozens of Nigerien soldiers. The attack was the deadliest attack on Nigerien forces so far during the jihadist insurgency in Niger.

On November 8, 2016 Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) fighters attacked Nigerien forces in Bani-Bangou, Tillabéri Region, Niger.

On February 22, 2017, jihadists from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) attacked Nigerien forces in Tilwa, Ouallam Department, Niger.

On March 6, 2017, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) militants attacked Nigerien forces between Wanzarbe and Yatakala, Niger.

On July 5, 2017, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) attacked Nigerien forces near Midal, Niger. The attack was the first claimed by JNIM in Niger.

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.

On July 1, 2019 Islamic State in the Greater Sahara militants attacked the mining town of Inates, Tillabéri Region, Niger, killing eighteen Nigerien soldiers.

On December 25, 2019, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) militants attacked Nigerien forces in Sanam, Tillabéri Region, Niger.

On March 12, 2020, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara militants attacked an outpost of the National Guard of Niger in Ayorou, Niger, killing several soldiers. French and Nigerien counterattacks killed dozens of ISGS militants.

On February 10, 2023, militants from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara ambushed Nigerien soldiers at Intagamey, Niger, killing at least seventeen people.

References

  1. ↑ "Examining Extremism: Islamic State in the Greater Sahara | Examining Extremism | CSIS". www.csis.org. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  2. 1 2 3 "Niger : six soldats tués dans une attaque à la frontière malienne". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Attaque meurtrière contre l'armée nigérienne près de la frontière malienne". RFI (in French). 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  4. ↑ "Mali: mort de Mohamed Ag Almouner, un des chefs du groupe EI au grand Sahara". RFI (in French). 2018-08-27. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  5. ↑ "Niger : au moins huit soldats tués dans une attaque dans la région de Tillabéri". sahelien.com (in French). 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  6. 1 2 "Niger – Tillaberi : du matériel militaire emporté après l'attaque du poste d'Ayorou". sahelien.com (in French). 2017-05-12. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  7. 1 2 "Niger: six soldats tués dans une attaque". Le Figaro (in French). 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  8. 1 2 Journal, Nordsud (2017-06-28). "Mali: Le chef djihadiste Al-Sahraoui accuse et menace les " Pharaons " des deux communautés du Mali". nordsudjournal (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  9. 1 2 3 "Le chef jihadiste Al-Sahraoui accuse et menace deux communautés du Mali". RFI (in French). 2017-06-27. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  10. ↑ "وكالة نواكشوط للأنباء". وكالة نواكشوط للأنباء (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-07-16.
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