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.
The Battle of Konna was a battle in the Northern Mali Conflict in the town of Konna in central Mali. Various Islamic fundamentalist rebels fought with the government of Mali, the latter of which was supported by French soldiers participating in Operation Serval. This battle was among the first French engagements in their intervention in the Mali War.
The Battle of Idelimane took place during the Internal Conflict in Azawad.
Ahmed al-Tilemsi, nom de guerre of Abderrahmane Ould El Amar was a Malian jihadist leader and drug trafficker who served as a founding member and senior figure of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and a senior figure and alleged emir of al-Mourabitoun.
On January 15, 2016, unknown militants ambushed Malian forces near Wanna, in Goundam Cercle, Mali.
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.
On January 5, 2015, militants from Katiba Macina and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) overran Malian defenses and briefly captured the city of Nampalari, Mali.
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 Salahaddin, a katiba within MOJWA that later reformed in the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara after Bady defected.
Mohamed Lemine Ould El Hassen, nom de guerre Abdallah al-Chinguetti, was a Mauritanian jihadist and commander of Katiba Al Furqan of the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Between October 26 and November 8, 2014, French forces of Operation Barkhane launched an offensive against jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Ansar Dine in the area of Ametettai, rural Kidal Region. It was dubbed Operation Tudelle by French authorities.
Abderrahmane Talha, also known as Abou Talha al-Mauritani or Talha al-Libi, is a Mauritanian jihadist who is the wali of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin's territory in Tombouctou Region.
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).
Between March 4 and 5, 2014, French forces conducted a bombing campaign in the Ametettai mountains of Kidal Region against al-Mourabitoun. The bombings killed Omar Ould Hamaha, a prominent jihadist commander, and several other militants.
On July 5, 2011, clashes broke out between Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Mauritanian forces in Bassikounou, Mauritania.
On June 24, 2011, Malian and Mauritanian forces launched an offensive into the Wagadou Forest, an area on the Malian-Mauritanian border known as a hideout for Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. While the joint forces were able to destroy the camp, some jihadists escaped.
On July 22, 2010, French and Mauritanian forces launched a raid on an Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) base in Tombouctou Region, Mali, in an attempt to rescue French hostage Michel Germaneau. The forces were able to destroy the base, but Germaneau was not rescued and later executed by AQIM.
The Tourine ambush, also known as the Tourine massacre, was one of the September 14, 2008, jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) ambushed Mauritanian soldiers in the village of Tourine, near Zouérat, Mauritania. The ambush was the first major attack by AQIM during the Insurgency in the Sahel, and sparked major changes in the Mauritanian military.
Between December 31, 2009, and January 1, 2010, clashes broke out between Nigerien forces and unknown gunmen in Tlemsess, Tahoua Region, Niger.
On January 8, 2011, French and Nigerien commandos attempted to retrieve two French nationals taken hostage by AQIM militants in Niamey in Niger, and who were subsequently brought into the desert near Tabankort in Mali. Both hostages were killed during the botched rescue operation, along with three Nigerien soldiers and four kidnappers. The rescue operation's failure sparked controversy in France as it was reported that one of the hostages was killed by French gunfire.
Djamel Okacha, nom de guerre Yahia Abou al-Hamman, was an Algerian jihadist who fought in the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) and later Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM). Okacha served as the commanders of Katiba al-Furqan and Katiba al-Mulathamoun within AQIM, and was appointed as the co-governor of Tombouctou Region during Ansar Dine's capture of the region during the 2012 Tuareg rebellion. Okacha was then appointed as the second-in-command of AQIM between 2012 and 2017, where he co-founded JNIM alongside Iyad Ag Ghaly and Amadou Kouffa. Okacha served as the second-in-command of JNIM until his death in 2019.
Mauritania 
AQIM