| Battle of the Sama Forest | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mali War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Khalid ibn Walid katiba | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 2 injured | 5 killed 21 arrested | ||||||
On July 16, 2015, the Malian army raided a jihadist base in the Sama Forest, in southern Mali's Sikasso Region. The raid is one of the few confrontations between jihadists and the Malian army in southern Mali, and marked the end of the Khalid ibn Walid katiba and jihadist expansion in southern Mali.
In 2015, Ansar Dine, a Malian jihadist group usually based in the north of the country, attempted to expand southwards and create a new front in southern Mali's Sikasso Region. [1] On June 10, 2015, the Ansar Dine-affiliated katiba Khalid ibn Walid katiba attacked a Malian gendarmerie post in Misséni on the Ivorian border, killing one gendarme, torching vehicles, and raising their black flag over the camp. [2] The second ever attack in Sikasso region occurred on June 28, when Ansar Dine-affiliated men captured the town of Fakola with no resistance, and retreated after a few hours. [3]
In July, more jihadists were captured headed southwards. An emissary of Ansar Dine commander Iyad Ag Ghaly was captured on July 9 near Bamako, and on July 13, twenty suspected jihadist recruits were arrested on a bus headed from Côte d'Ivoire into Mali. [4] [5] The suspects included thirteen Mauritanians, two Malians, two French, and two Franco-Malian dual nationals. Most were members of the Dawa sect of Islam. [6]
After the attacks in June, the Malian Army began combing operations in Sikasso, especially in the Sama Forest close to the Ivorian border. [7] On July 16, intelligence from locals led Malian forces to a jihadist base in the forest. Two offensives were carried out by the 33rd Parachute Commando Regiment, considered an elite unit of the Malian army, and they captured weapons and equipment from the camp. Many of the jihadists ere killed or fled. [8] [9]
The jihadists reportedly were from Ansar Dine and Katiba Macina and the "barefoot" sect. [9] Souleymane Keita, the founder of the Khalid ibn Walid katiba, fled to Guinea. [10]
While the Malian government did not release a statement about the battle, French news agencies reported the injuries of two Malian soldiers. [11] Ten jihadists were killed and ten were captured, according to the BBC, and Studio Tamani claimed the deaths of thirty fighters and fifteen taken prisoner. [12] [13] Jeune Afrique later reported that the katiba had thirty fighters, according to a Malian military official. Five of those were killed, fourteen were captured by Malian forces, and seven were arrested by Ivorian forces. [10]
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.
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On March 5, 2017, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked Malian forces in Boulikessi. The attack was the first by JNIM since its inception that month.
On 13 October 2016, jihadists from Ansar Dine ambushed Malian soldiers near Goumakoura, 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.
The National Alliance for the Protection of Fulani Identity and the Restoration of Justice (ANSIPRJ) was a Fulani nationalist political and military movement formed on June 21, 2016, during the Mali War.
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On October 28, 2015, a battle broke out in Tiébanda, Mali, between Katiba Macina militants and Malian forces.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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.
Souleymane Keïta was a Senegalese jihadist and the founder of the short-lived Khalid ibn al-Walid Battalion of Katiba Macina.
