| Battle of Timetrine | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Northern Mali conflict | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |  Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Mohamed Lemine Ould El-Hassen † | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| none | ~15 killed | ||||||
The Battle of Timetrine was a battle between French forces and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) militants in Timetrine, in Tessalit.
On February 22, 2013, the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) caught and intercepted some jihadist telephone calls that hinted that one of the French hostages captured by AQIM managed to escape his captors in the Timetrine, a desert and mountainous region, located west of the valley of Tilemsi which separates it of the Adrar of the Ifoghas. On the night of February 22–23, the French Special Forces launched Operation Avrid from Tessalit with naval commandos, and a group of the Air Parachute Commando No. 10 (CPA-10), but the first night searches were unsuccessful. The next night, a Tiger helicopter spotted a group of a dozen jihadists within two pickups. The Tiger opened fire but its machine gun jammed and it and the helicopter retreated. Around 5 a.m, the Islamists abandoned their camp, but they continued to be monitored by a drone, but video transmission was temporarily interrupted because of a power failure in Niamey. [1]
Finally, one of the vehicles was again located at a stop later in the night. At dawn, the French forces deployed two Puma helicopters which deposited about thirty soldiers of the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment. The soldiers were dropped about 2–5 miles from the jihadists. The French then moved towards the AQIM camp supported by a Tiger helicopter, an Atlantic-2 aircraft, and an Harfang drone. But AQIM fighters covered in blankets spotted the French and opened fire on them, without inflicting any damage due to poor sight caused by darkness. The French, equipped with night vision, were able to accurately return fire. Subsequently, two and a half kilometers further north, the second group of jihadists also engages in the combat. In total, about fifteen Islamists took part in the confrontation. For its part, the Tiger opened fire and killed several AQIM. The Tiger was narrowly missed by a rocket of an RPG-7 fired by the fighters of the second group, whose fighters were in turn shot by the riposte of the Tiger. The parachutists then progressed to a rocky hill that overlooked the area and seized three vehicles abandoned by the jihadists. The latter was positioned at the foot of the rocky peak and opened fire on the French as they arrived one kilometer from them. A sniper duel began and continued for several hours. Finally, the paratroopers received reinforcements, and then launched the final assault on the mound. The last jihadists tried to throw themselves on the soldiers in a final kamikaze attack, but they were each time eliminated before being able to detonate their explosive belts. At the end of the fight, all the jihadists were killed. The French soldiers then searched the vehicles and corpses of the AQIM fighters, recognizing a commander among them, Mohamed Lemine Ould El-Hassen, one of the four brigades of AQIM. On June 16, 2013, AQIM officially confirmed the death of Mohamed Lemine Ould El-Hassen at the same time as that of Abdelhamid Abou Zeid. The statement does not specify the date, nor the place of his death, just stated that he was killed during "the last engagements with enemy forces in northern Mali ". [2] [3]
The Mali War is an ongoing conflict that started in January 2012 between the northern and southern parts of Mali in Africa. On 16 January 2012, several insurgent groups began fighting a campaign against the Malian government for independence or greater autonomy for northern Mali, which they called Azawad. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), an organization fighting to make this area of Mali an independent homeland for the Tuareg people, had taken control of the region by April 2012.
The Amachach military base in Tessalit was defended by roughly 800 Malian soldiers commanded by Colonel Kassim Goita, with 1,500 refugees being mostly Tuareg women and children. The International Committee of the Red Cross was sent to help evacuate civilians and military families, but despite the approval of the MNLA, Malian authorities delayed the operation and it was never executed as a humanitarian source. Other Malian military forces in the region of Tessalit were led by Colonels' Didier Dacko, Ould Meydou, and the well respected Tuareg commander El Hadji Ag Gamou.
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.
Operation Serval was a French military operation in Mali. The aim of the operation was to oust Islamic militants from the north of Mali, who had begun a push into the center of Mali.
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 Diabaly was fought between government forces of Mali, against groups of Islamists militants such as the AQIM and Ansar Dine. The Islamists held control of Diabaly for no longer than a week until Malian forces with the help French air strikes recaptured the town.
The following is a timeline of major events during the Northern Mali conflict.
The Second Battle of Gao was the recapture of the city of Gao from Islamist MOJWA fighters by Malian/French forces. It took place in January 2013 within the Northern Mali Conflict.
Operation Panther was a French military operation in Mali that was launched in February 2013.
The Battle of Imenas was an armed confrontation between French-Malian forces and the Jihadists terrorist groups, Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and Al-Mulathameen. The battle was a decisive Franco-Malian victory, as it resulted, according to the French and the Malian governments, in 52 Islamists being killed, with no government forces being killed.
The Battle of Khalil took place on 22–23 February 2013 and was part of the Northern Mali conflict, the battle began on the 22nd with two suicide bombings.
On March 6, French and Malian forces took control of the Wadi Tin Keraten area, located 100 km east of Gao and northeast of Imenas. When Malian soldiers got near Tin Keraten, they were attacked by Islamists from MOJWA. French ground troops arrived supported by Tiger helicopters and Gazelles along with some warplanes. Four Malian soldiers were wounded during the battle and a French soldier, sergeant Wilfried Pingaud of the 68th Artillery Regiment in Africa, was mortally wounded. He was transported to Gao, where he died of his wounds. The Islamists lost about ten men according to French reports.
The Battle of Djebok took place between an offshoot of Al-Qaeda, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa against French and Malian armed forces in March 2013 in the area of Djebok, during the Mali war.
Chadian intervention in northern Mali refers to military intervention by Chad during the Mali War. Since its first deployment, the Chadian military has suffered 100 casualties.
The Arab Movement of Azawad is an Arab military organization active in Azawad/northern Mali. Initially known as the National Liberation Front of Azawad, it was formed in early 2012, during the 2012 Tuareg rebellion. The MAA claims to be a secular, non-terrorist organization, whose main objective is to defend the interests of all the Arab peoples of northern Mali.
Operation Barkhane was a counterinsurgency operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region and consisted of a roughly 3,000-strong French force, which was permanently headquartered in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. The operation was led in co-operation with five countries, all of which are former French colonies that span the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Mali was a part of the operation until August 2022. The countries are collectively referred to as the "G5 Sahel". The operation was named after a crescent-shaped dune type that is common in the Sahara desert.
The Battle of Talahandak took place on 3 June 2020 during the Mali War. It resulted in the death of Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
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.
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 Salahadin, 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.