| Battle of Bassikounou | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Insurgency in the Sahel | |||||||
 Mauritanian pickup in Bassikounou, July 2011 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Mauritania |  AQIM | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3–4 injured | 15–20 killed (per military and medical sources) 9 captured 6 killed (per Mauritanian Army) 2 killed (per AQIM) | ||||||
On July 5, 2011, clashes broke out between Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Mauritanian forces in Bassikounou, Mauritania.
Between 2005 and 2011, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had a stronghold in the Wagadou forest on the border between Mali and Mauritania. On June 24, 2011, Malian and Mauritanian forces launched an offensive on AQIM in the forest to finally dislodge the group, killing several jihadists. [1]
According to a resident of Bassikounou, occupants of a car on the way to Vasaala raised the alarm about an imminent jihadist incursion. The car was stopped by an AQIM checkpoint about ten kilometers outside of the city but were released. Mauritanian soldiers were then dispatched to confront the checkpoint. [2] Clashes broke out between the two groups at 4pm. They exchanged artillery and heavy weapons fire for an hour, with the jihadists withdrawing before Mauritanian airpower arrived. Mauritanian forces set out in pursuit of the jihadists, with the air force shooting several jihadists. [3] [4]
Fighting ended around 7pm, with a city official stating he saw three vehicles destroyed. In a statement, AQIM stated that the attack was in retaliation for the raid on Wagadou. [5]
The Mauritanian Army announced in a press release that six jihadists were killed. The release clarified that "around 4:30pm, an enemy column made up of over 20 vehicles was surrounded by heavy fire from our units. Six fighters were killed during the clash; one left on the battlefield, two burned in their vehicle, and three others near Gataa El Gam. There are strong indications a large number of terrorists were injured. Alhamdulillah, no material or human losses were in our ranks." [6]
A local official in Bassikounou stated fifteen jihadists were killed, nine were taken prisoner, and two vehicles were destroyed. The same source stated that three Mauritanian soldiers were injured. [3] AQIM claimed only two deaths within their ranks, and that none of their men were captured. [7] A military source contacted by AFP stated that twenty jihadists were killed, and four soldiers were injured. [8]
In a 2017 interview, General Mohamed Ould Ghazouani stated that at Bassikounou, the Algerian emir of AQIM was killed, and the battle also marked the first time that AQIM left their dead on the ground. [9]
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On January 15, 2016, unknown militants ambushed Malian forces near Wanna, in Goundam Cercle, Mali.
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The raid on Ténenkou took place on January 16, 2015, between Malian forces and jihadists of the Ansar Dine-affiliated Katiba Macina.
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.
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).
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The Battle of Areich Hind, also known as the Battle of Raz el-Ma, took place between September 17 and 19, 2010, during the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel. Mauritanian forces launched an offensive against a group of AQIM jihadists in Malian territory on September 17.
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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.
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On August 19, 2019, jihadists from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked Burkinabe forces in Koutougou, Soum Province, Burkina Faso. 24 Burkinabe soldiers were killed in the attack, and Burkinabe authorities were forced to abandon military outposts in several northern Burkinabe towns following the attack. The attack was the deadliest jihadist attack in Burkinabe history up to that point.
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.