The Fall of Timbuktu took place during the war in northern Mali. It was one of the first clashes between the MNLA and Ansar Dine, and led to the latter taking control of the city in June 2012.
During the conflict, concerns were raised of threats to the cultural heritage of Timbuktu; numerous shrines and mausoleums in the city were damaged or destroyed, and efforts were made to evacuate the Timbuktu Manuscripts.
Battle
On June 13, 2012, at approximately 10:00 am, an MNLA vehicle arrived at a station at the south-eastern entrance of Timbuktu City, on the Goundam Road. A quarrel started between the separatist fighters and Islamists who guarded the post, with the terrorists demanding that the men of the MNLA to lay down their weapons, which they refuse. Fighting then erupted. An Ansar Dine commander stated that "MNLA defeated elements wanted to move into the city, they were asked to put down their weapons, they refused and started firing, we fought back. Two of our elements were hit in the skirmish but without gravity, they were treated and are doing well " According to Oumar Sall, a member of the High Islamic Council of Timbuktu; "It happened at the eastern exit of Timbuktu, where there is a post held by Ançar Dine. MNLA people wanted to go, but Ançar Dine refused and there was a hang-up." Later, the islamists issued a deadline for the MLNA to leave the city at the end of the month.[citation needed]
On June 29, Ansar Dine was reported to have taken control of Timbuktu after MNLA fighters followed their deadline to leave town. Residents confirmed the MNLA was no longer present, as the Islamist movements confirmed their control over the entire northern Malian region of Azawad.[2][3]
Aftermath
Destruction of shrines
At the same time, UNESCO responded to appeals from the Malian government in Bamako to declare several sites within the city as "endangered"[4] because it "aims to raise cooperation and support for the sites threatened by the armed conflict in the region."[5] On 30 June 2012, a local journalist said that he was told Ansar Dine would start destroying 13 more Sufi cemeteries and mausolea of saints after having destroyed three, including the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar.[6] They were then said to have destroyed the mausolea of Sidi El Mokhtar, Alfa Moya and five other sites with pick-axes, hoes and Kalashnikovs.[7]
Despite earlier claims that they had stopped taking down the tombs,[7] on 1 July about 30 members of the group[8] were reported to have continued taking down four more sites with hoes and chisels at the cemetery of Djinguereber Mosque, including that of Cheikh el-Kebir,[9]Sidi Elmety, Mahamane Elmety[8] and Sidi Mahmoudou[9] by late afternoon.[10] Ansar Dine's Omar Ould Hamaha said that
the only tribunal we recognise is the divine court of shariah. The destruction is a divine order. It's our prophet who said that each time that someone builds something on top of a grave, it needs to be pulled back to the ground. We need to do this so that future generations don't get confused, and start venerating the saints as if they are God...We are against tourism. They foster debauchery.[9]
On 2 July there was more destruction, most notably at Sidi Yahya's mausoleum, one of the three "great mosques" in the city built in the 15th century during the Islamic Golden Age, according to UNESCO.[11] The militants broke down the door to the shrine, which, according to a local imam, was not supposed to be opened until the end of days. Sanda Ould Bamana then told the BBC that Ansar Dine had done almost 90% of what it sought to in destroying the mausolea in accordance with sharia, which he said does not permit tombs to be taller than 15 centimetres.[12] Local imam Alpha Abdoulahi said that the militants wanted to "destroy the mystery" of the gateway and that he was offered "50,000 CFA for repairs but I refused to take the money, saying that what they did is irreparable."[13]
In September 2012, Islamists destroyed the mausoleum of Cheik El-Kebir, located 330 kilometers from Gao. The tomb had been venerated by people of the Kunta tribe.[14] Further destruction occurred with four mausoleums being razed on 23 December and an Ansar Dine official, Abou Dardar, being quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying that "not a single mausoleum will remain in Timbuktu."[15]
On 28 January 2013, as French-Malian troops captured Timbuktu Airport, the departing forces set fires within the Ahmed Baba Institute, which they had used as a barracks. Initial reports incorrectly stated that the building and all its contents were destroyed.[16] The fire destroyed or damaged some 4,000 manuscripts, but another 10,000 that were kept in underground storage were undamaged. During the occupation, Timbuktu residents ran great risks to smuggle tens of thousands of other priceless manuscripts to relatively safe locations.[17] The manuscripts that the rebels did destroy had all been previously preserved in digital form.[18]
Reactions
The MNLA's spokesman Hama Ag Mahmoud, speaking from Nouakchott, said of the destructions that "the perpetrators of these heinous acts, their sponsors, and those who support them must be made accountable."[19] On the 12 July, the MNLA released a statement that read "we call on the USA, France and all other countries who want to stand against Ansar Dine, Boko Haram and al Qaeda who are now holding Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal to help us kill them and help the people in those cities."[20] The MNLA and Tuareg refugees claimed, in interviews with the Western media, that Islamists had only previously bested the MNLA, despite their boasts of the MNLA having more fighters,[21] because of superior firepower and the presence of foreign Islamist groups, like AQIM.[22] An MNLA official in Nouakchott later clarified that they would only fight to remove the Islamists if "we are not the ones to fight the terrorists all alone...it is important that the outside powers help us, to even up the balance of power."[21]
Timbuktu Deputy Mayor Sandy Haidara said of the actions that "it looks as if it is a direct reaction to the UNESCO decision." Ansar Dine's spokesman Sanda Ould Boumama then said that the group "will today destroy every mausoleum in the city. All of them, without exception. God is unique. All of this is haram. We are all Muslims. UNESCO is what?" [We are acting] in the name of God." UNESCO's Executive Committee Chair Alissandra Cummins said that "this is tragic news for us all. I appeal to all those engaged in the conflict in Timbuktu to exercise their responsibility."[23]
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova called for a stop to the destructions, shortly before the announcement that Ansar Dine had ceased the destructions, according to a local journalist.[7] Haidara's assessment was echoed by the media, which read the action as reacting to UNESCO's decision to put the sites on the endangered list.[24][25] The chairwoman of UNESCO's 36th session, Yeleonor Mitrofanova, told the World Heritage Committee meeting in Saint Petersburg that she "appealed to all those engaged in the conflict in Timbuktu to exercise their responsibility – for the sake of future generations, spare the legacy of their past"[9] A source reported to be affiliated to a local imam was quoted as saying that Ansar Dine had "raped Timbuktu today. It is a crime."[26]
United Nations Representative for West Africa Said Djinnit said that the events "confirm the hold that terrorist groups have on Mali’s north, which worsens the humanitarian position of local people."[27] United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky quoted Moon as saying: "Such attacks against cultural heritage sites are totally unjustified," while adding that "the secretary-general calls on all parties to exercise their responsibility to preserve the cultural heritage of Mali." The International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda warned "those involved in these criminal acts is clear: stop the destruction of the religious buildings now. This is a war crime which my office has authority to fully investigate." She cited Mali's accession to Article 8 of the Rome Statute that says any "deliberate attacks against undefended civilian buildings which are not military objectives are a war crime."[10] The sixty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly also expressed concern about the regions UNESCO sites to the Director General[who?] of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the President[who?] of the African Union Commission and the Chair[who?] of ECOWAS.[28]
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference issued a statement that read the sites were "part of the rich Islamic heritage of Mali and should not be allowed to be destroyed and put in harm's way by bigoted extremist elements."[29] ECOWAS also issued a statement after a meeting in Ouagadougou that read: "They are asking the International Criminal Court to proceed with necessary investigations to identify those responsible for war crimes and to take the necessary action against them." [sic] It also called on Mali to ask the UN to support a military intervention against the groups in Azawad.[30]
The Malian government called the actions "destructive fury,"[31] assimilable to "war crimes"[32] and threatened action through Malian and international channels.[26] Mali's Foreign Minister Sadio Lamine Sow said from Algiers that Mali would "do everything to recover our territory;"[33] while the Culture and Tourism Minister Diallo Fadima Touré called on the UN on 1 July, to "take concrete steps to stop these crimes against the cultural heritage of my people."[9] Protesters in Bamako rallied against the Islamist takeover on 4 July.[34]
France's Communications Director and Chief Spokesperson at the Central Administration Bernard Valero[35] said: "France condemns the deliberate destruction of the tombs of Muslim saints in the city of Timbuktu by an Islamist extremist group which controls this city. We appeal for an end to this violence and this intolerance. The systematic violation of these places of reverence and prayer, which for centuries have been part of the soul of this famed sub-Saharan city, constitutes an intolerable act."[36] The Russia Foreign Ministry condemned the action as "barbarian. Such acts can only arouse indignation." The United States' State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also added that "the United States strongly condemns the destruction of the UNESCO world heritage sites in Timbuktu by Islamic militants. We call on all parties to protect Mali's heritage."[33] Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba said at the General debate of the sixty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly that he rejected the attempt to secede, as well as the wanton destructions of the sites.[37] Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra also called for an immediate international intervention to restore Bamako's writ;[38] he was supported by Niger.[39] It was also affirmed at the same forum by Ivory Coast, who had a similar external intervention during the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis,[40] and former imperial overlord France's Francois Hollande who supported an African intervention.[41]
The head of the Tombouctou Manuscripts Project at the University of Cape Town, Shamil Jeppie, said that the destruction was akin to that of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. "It's a real loss for people in the town, in the region and on the continent. Timbuktu was a center of Islamic learning, a very significant center — there is lots of internal and external evidence of this. But Ansar Dine is ignorant of this. For them, there is only one book and it's the Quran. All this other (Islamic) learning is inconsequential to them." The Chairman of the Malian Manuscript Foundation Michael Covitt, said from New York that the action led to "generations and generations of culture being destroyed."[42] However, early estimates of the extent of the destruction were overstated. Timbuktu residents successfully saved more than 300,000 manuscripts by hiding or smuggling them out of Timbuktu. No more than 4,000 documents were lost or damaged when rebels set fires within the Ahmed Baba Institute, and all of them belonged to a set that had been copied by digitization.[16][17][18] However, many of the preserved manuscripts were damaged in the process of rescuing and hiding them. In 2014 UNESCO appealed for assistance to conserve and restore the Timbuktu manuscripts and to continue making digital copies.[43]
Voice of America reported that people in the city say the actions of Ansar Dine as unrelated to Islamic thought and teachings, but instead targeted at avenging the threats of the "international community" and the Western world-led War on Terror. Timbuktu MP in the National Assembly of Mali, Haïdara El Hadji Baba, said that "Ansar Dine’s real motivation in doing this was to defy the international community;” he cited the destructions as emanating after UNESCO's classification of the shrines as "in danger." He further warned that after Bensouda told the French media on 1 July that the actions could be called war crimes there could be more to come. "With its condemnations the international community is only intensifying Ansar Dine's desire to destroy." UNESCO's World Heritage Centre's Africa head, Lazare Eloundou Assomo, refused responsibility for the action in saying that it was "normal" for supranational bodies to denounce the destruction of what she termed "world heritage." She added: "Would you have UNESCO remain silent about this? No. It’s crucial that we declare that these sites are important to the entire world and it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect them."[44] While Reuters was similarly critical of the move, it also cited Ansar Dine's Sanda Ould Boumama speaking to Radio France Internationale saying that "human beings cannot be elevated higher than God ... When the Prophet entered Mecca, he said that all the mausoleums should be destroyed. And that's what we're repeating."[45]
International Criminal Court
On 27 September 2016 the International Criminal Court (ICC) found Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, an islamist member of the Ansar Dine, guilty of war crime of attacks against religious and historic buildings by deliberately destroying nine mausoleums and the secret gate of the Sidi Yahya Mosque between 30 June and 11 July 2012 and sentenced him to 9 years in prison in a landmark case that was the first successful prosecution focusing solely on the destruction of a World Heritage Site. He pleaded guilty.[46] It also found al-Mahdi must pay $3.2 million in collective reparations to the Timbuktu community for the damage he caused.[47]
Reconstruction
Local masons have reconstructed many monuments in Timbuktu, and UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova visited the site and praised the Malian government.[48][49][50]
Timbuktu is an ancient city in Mali, situated 20 kilometres north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census.
Gao, or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, 320 km (200 mi) east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley.
Islam is very important to traditional Malian culture. Muslims currently make up approximately 95 percent of the population of Mali. The majority of Muslims in Mali are Malikite Sunni, influenced with Sufism. Ahmadiyya and Shia branches are also present.
Azawad, or Azawagh, was a short-lived unrecognised state lasting between 2012 and 2013. Azawagh (Azawaɣ) is the generic Tuareg Berber name for all Tuareg Berber areas, especially the northern half of Mali and northern and western Niger. The Azawadi declaration of independence was declared unilaterally by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) in 2012, after a Tuareg rebellion drove the Malian Armed Forces from the region.
The Djinguereber Mosque, also known as Djingareyber or Djingarey Ber, is a famous learning center in Timbuktu, Mali. Built in 1327, it is one of three madrassas composing the University of Timbuktu. It was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1988.
The Sidi Yahya Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Muhammad-n-Allah, is a mosque and madrasa of Timbuktu in Mali. The construction of the mosque began in 1400 under the leadership of Sheikh el-Mokhtar Hamalla of Timbuktu and was finished in 1440.
The 2012 Tuareg rebellion was the early phase of the Mali War; from January to April 2012, a war was waged against the Malian government by rebels with the goal of attaining independence for the northern region of Mali, known as Azawad. It was led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and was part of a series of insurgencies by traditionally nomadic Tuaregs which date back at least to 1916. The MNLA was formed by former insurgents and a significant number of heavily armed Tuaregs who fought in the Libyan Civil War.
The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad or the Azawad National Liberation Movement, formerly the National Movement of Azawad, is a militant organization based in northern Mali.
Ansar Dine, meaning "helpers of the religion" (Islam) and also known as Ansar al-Din, was a Salafi jihadist group led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. Ansar Dine sought to impose absolute sharia across Mali. The group took over the city of Timbuktu in 2012, which prompted the French-led intervention, Operation Serval.
Iyad Ag Ghaly, also known as Abū al-Faḍl, is a Tuareg Islamist militant from Mali's Kidal Region. He has been active in Tuareg rebellions against the Malian government since the 1980s – particularly in the early 1990s. In 1988, he founded the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Azawad. In the latest episode of the Tuareg upheavals in 2012, he featured as the founder and leader of the Islamist militant group Ansar Dine.
On 6 April 2012, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad unilaterally declared Azawad independent from the Republic of Mali in the wake of a rebellion which was preceded by a string of other Tuareg rebellions. It is called the Independent State of Azawad.
Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar was a revered Muslim scholar who is one of the 333 Sufi saints said to be buried in Timbuktu. The tomb of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar is among 16 cemeteries and mausolea that are a part of Timbuktu, which is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On 30 June 2012, it was reported that his tomb had been destroyed by Ansar Dine following the Battle of Gao, as it contravened sharia according to Ansar Dine. These attacks resemble those carried out by the Wahabist movement on the Arabian peninsula during the late 18th century.
The Battle of Gao was fought between the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and the Islamist Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), along with its ally Ansar Dine, in Gao between 26–28 June 2012. By the 28 June, Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal, the three biggest cities in the disputed secessionist region of Azawad within what is recognised as Malian territory, were under the control of Ansar Dine and its Islamist allies.
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 International Criminal Court investigation in Mali or the Situation in the Republic of Mali is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into war crimes and other crimes within the ICC's jurisdiction that are alleged to have occurred during the Northern Mali conflict since January 2012. The investigation was requested by the government of Mali in July 2012. As the first person who pleaded guilty to a charge of the ICC, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi made a statement expressing remorse and advising others not to commit similar acts.
The following is a timeline of major events during the Northern Mali conflict.
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.
Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was a member of Ansar Dine, a Tuareg Islamist militia in North Africa. Al-Mahdi admitted guilt in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2016 for the war crime of attacking religious and historical buildings in the Malian city of Timbuktu. Al-Mahdi was the first person convicted by the ICC for such a crime, and in general the first individual to ever be prosecuted solely on the basis of cultural crimes. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. On 25 November 2021, his sentence was commuted to 7 years in prison, and he was released on 18 September 2022.
The first battle of Kidal took place during the Mali war. On 30 March 2012, the city was captured by rebel MNLA and Ansar Dine forces.
Al-Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud is a Malian Islamist militant and convicted war criminal who joined Ansar Dine in early 2012 and became an interpreter and administrator of the Islamic police in Timbuktu during the Northern Mali conflict. Al-Hassan was tried in the International Criminal Court on the charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes carried out during 2012 and 2013, including rape and sexual slavery under Article 8 2.(e)(vi) of the Rome Statute of the ICC. He was convicted on 26 June 2024 of some of the war crimes and crimes against humanity charges, including torture, mutilation and cruel treatment. He was acquitted of the rape and sexual slavery charges.
1 2 Tombouctou Manuscripts Project (30 January 2013). "Timbuktu Update". Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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Abu Bakr al-Shinquiti [1] 
