| Battle of Ber (2018) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mali War | |||||||
 The MINUSMA camp at Ber in December 2017 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~100 | 80 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 2 killed 11 injured | 2+ killed | ||||||
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.
At 5:30 am, several pickups armed with rocket launchers, machine guns, or VBIEDs, attacked the MINUSMA camp in Ber, which was defended by the 1st and 6th companies of the Badenya Battalion. [1] [2] One of the suicide-bombing vehicles made it inside the camp, killing two peacekeepers. [3] After reaching the base, JNIM militants attacked on foot, but were repulsed by the MINUSMA contingent. [2] Afterwards, the Burkinabe peacekeepers chased after the militants. [4]
On October 29, JNIM claimed responsibility for the attack, and claimed 80 militants were involved including two suicide bombers. [5] [6]
The United Nations stated that two peacekeepers were killed and several injured in the battle. The Burkinabe army corroborated this, stating two soldiers were killed and five wounded. [7] [1] A December 28, 2018 report from the UN updated the toll, stating two killed and eleven injured. [8] [4] The hospital in Ber stated that JNIM had an unknown amount of victims, including children. [2]
Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the head of MINUSMA, deplored the attack. [1]
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali was a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali. MINUSMA was established on 25 April 2013 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2100 to stabilise the country after the Tuareg rebellion of 2012, and was terminated over a decade later on 30 June 2023. Officially deployed on 1 July 2013, MINUSMA was the UN's second-most dangerous peacekeeping mission after Lebanon, with 304 peacekeepers killed out of a force of about 15,200 as of May 2023.
Clashes began around the village of Araouane in Mali's Taoudénit Region, after French forces launched an attack against JNIM militants in the area. The initial and subsequent engagements were part of Operation Barkhane, the goal of which is to eliminate JNIM commanders in the region.
On 14 April 2018, militants attacked the MINUSMA base in Timbuktu Airport, known informally as the "super camp". The JNIM later claimed responsibility for the attack, in reprisal for the deaths of some of their commanders in clashes that occurred about a week earlier.
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 April 2, 2021, insurgents from the al-Qaeda-linked group Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) attacked a contingent of Chadian troops serving in MINUSMA, the UN's peacekeeping branch throughout the Mali War. The Chadian troops effectively repelled the JNIM attack, inflicting heavy casualties.
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 7 September 2023, at least 49 civilians and 15 soldiers were killed when Islamist militants attacked a military camp and the vessel Timbuktu in Mali. Militants reportedly attacked the boat as it was traveling on the Niger River from the town of Gao to Mopti and also attacked an army camp in the Bourem Cercle in the Gao Region. Another attack on the 8th targeted a Mali army camp and the airport in Gao. The responsibility for the attacks were claimed by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, a group linked to al-Qaeda.
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.
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 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 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.
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 January 15, 2016, unknown militants ambushed Malian forces near Wanna, in Goundam Cercle, Mali.
On August 7, 2015, jihadists from Al-Mourabitoun and Katiba Macina attacked the Byblos Hotel in Sévaré, Mali. The attack was one of the largest attacks against civilians in Mopti Region during the Mali War, and led to the deaths of thirteen people, including five civilians.
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 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.
