March 2015 Kidal attack

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March 2015 Kidal attack
Part of Northern Mali conflict
LocationMali
Date8 March 2015 (2015-03-08)
Deaths3
Injured14

More than 30 rockets and shells struck a MINUSMA base in Kidal, northern Mali, early on 8 March 2015. One United Nations peacekeeper from Chad was killed, as were two Malian children killed when a shell fell on a nearby camp of Tuareg and Arab nomads, according to the UN. [1] Eleven more peacekeepers and three more civilians were reportedly injured. [2] The rockets and shells were apparently launched from both the north and the south of the base. [3] It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, but Islamist militants active in the area [4] or Tuareg separatists [5] were suspected.

Contents

Background

Kidal, where the attack took place, is considered the "cradle" of the Tuareg separatist movement, which seeks to carve out an ethnic homeland called Azawad in northern Mali. [5] Separatists briefly seized control of major cities in the region and declared Azawadi independence in 2012, but their Islamist allies turned on them and evicted them from their strongholds. Months later, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad agreed to support Malian territorial unity and renounce the independence of Azawad, although the relationship between Tuareg fighters in the north and the Malian military remained tenuous. [6] France, the former colonial power in Mali, intervened in 2013 to drive out Islamist fighters. The United Nations began taking over peacekeeping duties from French troops in northern Mali later that year, forming MINUSMA as its mission in the West African country. [4]

The day before the rocket attack in Kidal, a gunman opened fire in a bar in Bamako, Mali's capital. The attack killed five, including a Belgian security official working for the European Union. The Islamist group Al-Murabitoun claimed responsibility for the attack, the first of its kind in the southern Malian city. [4] [7]

Reactions

The United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack as "intolerable" and said it violated international law. [2] A UN spokeswoman called the shelling "a terrorist attack of a very complex nature". [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azawad</span> Tuareg name for a territory in northern Mali

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kidal</span> Commune and town in Kidal Region, Mali

Kidal is a town and commune in the desert region of northern Mali. The town lies 285 km (177 mi) northeast of Gao and is the capital of the Kidal Cercle and the Kidal Region. The commune has an area of about 9,910 km2 (3,830 sq mi) and includes the town of Kidal and 31 other settlements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuareg rebellion (2012)</span> Early stage of the Mali War

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad</span> Militant group in Northern Mali (2011–present)

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad or the Azawad National Liberation Movement, formerly the National Movement of Azawad, was a militant organization based in northern Mali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mali War</span> Armed conflict in Mali that started in January 2012

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 Battle of Aguelhok occurred when rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and Islamists groups Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb attacked a Malian army garrison base in the town of Aguelhok, Kidal Region of Northern Mali on 17 January 2012, as part of the larger Tuareg rebellion to seize all government bases in the region.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Bamako hotel attack</span> Terrorist attack in Radisson Blu, Bamako

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A MINUSMA base in Kidal, northern Mali, was attacked on 28 November 2015. Two Guinean soldiers and a Burkinabe contractor were killed, with 20 more injured. Ansar Dine claimed responsibility for the attack.

The 2016 Nampala attack was an armed assault against a Malian Army base in the Niono Cercle subdivision of the Ségou Region of Mali on 19 July 2016, that left at least 17 government soldiers dead and 35 others injured. The Katiba Macina, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the ethnic Fula militant group National Alliance for the Protection of Fulani Identity and the Restoration of Justice (ANSIPRJ) claimed joint responsibility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamist insurgency in the Sahel</span> Insurgency throughout the Sahel and West Africa

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Events in the year 2022 in Mali.

Events in the year 2023 in Mali.

The battle of Kidal took place between July 21 and 22, 2016 between GATIA, a pro-government militia consisting of Imghad Tuaregs, against the Coordination of Azawad Movements, consisting of Ifoghas Tuaregs.

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ber (2023)</span>

The battle of Ber took place between August 11 and 12, 2023, between the Malian Armed Forces and the Wagner Group against fighters of the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM). The battle was the first major confrontation between the CMA and Malian forces since the signing of the Algiers Accords, and led to the breakdown of the accords by late 2023.

The Kidal offensive was an offensive by the Malian government and Wagner Group mercenaries against the rebel coalition Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security, and Development (CSP-PSD) with the aim of capturing the rebel-held region of Kidal. The offensive was part of a renewed conflict between the Malian junta that took power in 2021 and former Tuareg rebel groups that had signed the Algiers Agreement in 2015, creating a ceasefire and de facto rebel control over the region. The offensive was also an attempt by Malian forces to seize control over MINUSMA camps in Kidal Region after the Malian junta had ordered the mission to leave the country by the end of 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "At least three killed in north Mali rocket attack: U.N". Reuters. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Attack in northeastern Mali that killed UN peacekeeper strongly condemned by Ban, Council". United Nations News Centre. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 "UN peacekeeper killed in attack in Mali's Kidal". Al Jazeera. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Rocket attack hits Kidal UN base in northern Mali". BBC News. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Attack on UN Mali barracks kills soldier and two civilians". The Guardian. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Jackson, Paul (23 November 2015). "Explainer: What is going on in Mali?". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Mali bar attack kills five in Bamako". BBC News. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.

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