The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for events .(October 2023) |
Battle of Elakla | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Mali War | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
France | Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Unknown | Djamel Okacha † Seifallah Ben Hassine † | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None | 11 killed Several prisoners [1] |
The battle of Elakla took place on February 21, 2019, between French forces of Operation Barkhane and al-Qaeda aligned Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.
After the creation of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin in 2017, a jihadist group that was the result of five Sahelian jihadist groups merging, French forces in Operation Barkhane aided Malian government efforts to fight the group. Djamel Okacha was a founding member of JNIM, and the second-in-command of the group. [2]
Barkhane forces launched an operation on the afternoon of February 21 after spotting three vehicles deemed suspicious moving throughout Tombouctou Region. [2] The French army launched drone strikes on the vehicles, before sending in ground forces, five helicopters, and an MQ-9 drone. [2] The aircraft took off at 1:13pm from Bou Djeheba, north of Timbuktu. [3] An hour later, one pick-up was spotted by the drones, before being joined by two more vehicles. [3] After a chase, two pick-ups stopped and surrendered after being shot at. [3] The ground forces chased the third truck, but were only able to catch it after a second group of commandos intervened as it tried to blend into civilians. [3] As the drivers felt trapped, they got out and shot at the French commandos, but were killed. [2]
The French government claimed 11 fighters were put out of action, including Djamel Okacha and his two main deputies. [4] Seifallah Ben Hassine, nom de guerre Abou Iyadh and leader of the Tunisian jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia, was also killed in the battle. [5] Okacha's death was confirmed by Sedane Ag Hita, another top member of JNIM, and later JNIM leader and founder Abdelmalek Droukdel. [6] [7]
Amadou Koufa, nom de guerre of Amadou Diallo, also spelled Hamadoun Kouffa or Amadou Kouffa is a Malian Fulani jihadist and preacher who founded Katiba Macina, later part of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.
Ba Ag Moussa was a Malian militant and jihadist.
The Mondoro attack took place on 4 March 2022, when al-Qaeda-linked jihadists attacked a Malian military base, causing heavy casualties.
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.
On April 6, 2020, jihadist militants from the al-Qaeda linked Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) attacked a secluded Malian military base in Bamba, killing dozens of Malian soldiers. A raid in retribution the following day killed JNIM leader Abu Yahya al-Jizari.
The battle of Farimake took place between November 22 and 23, 2018, between French forces of Operation Barkhane and Katibat Macina, a regional variant of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin. French forces launched an assault on Katiba Macina, claiming to have killed their leader Amadou Koufa.
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.
Operation Tiésaba-Bourgou was a joint Franco-Malian operation against Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and Ansarul Islam near the Malian, Burkinabe, and Nigerien borders.
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.
Between October 16 and 17, 2018, joint Franco-Malian forces clashed with Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin in a forest near Ndaki, Mali.
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.
The Inaghalawass skirmish took place on February 14, 2018, between French forces and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin fighters. In French airstrikes, former al-Mourabitoun commander Abu Hassan al-Ansari was killed.
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.
The raid on Tin Biden occurred between October 23 and 24, 2017, between French forces of Operation Barkhane and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin in the remote wadi of Tin Biden, Kidal Region, Mali. In the battle, French forces killed eleven Malian prisoners of war held captive by JNIM.
The battle of the Serma Forest took place between French forces and Ansarul Islam and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin jihadists between May 30 and June 1, 2017, in the Serma Forest in Mali.
Between April 29 and 30, 2017, French forces launched an offensive against jihadists from Ansarul Islam and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin based in the Foulsaré forest in southern Mali. The operation was dubbed Operation Bayard by the French.
The battle of Gourma-Rharous took place on April 18, 2017, between French and Malian forces against an attacking Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.
Mahmoud Barry, nom de guerre Abou Yehiya, is a Malian jihadist and second-in-command of Katiba Macina. Since 2022 he has been the spokesperson of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.
Between December 10 and 11, 2014, French forces ambushed militants from al-Mourabitoun near Tabankort, Gao Region, Mali. The ambush led to the death of Ahmed al-Tilemsi, the founder of MOJWA and a key figure in al-Mourabitoun.