On 19 February 2013, heavy fighting occurred as French Special Forces pushed deeper into the Azawad hinterland in pursuit of Islamist insurgents. During the engagement one paratrooper from the French Foreign Legion and 20 Islamists were killed.[2] French President François Hollande commented during a visit to Greece that one French soldier and many Islamists had been killed in the fighting.[3]
Early in the afternoon on 20 February dozen Islamists were killed by French ground troops backed by Tiger helicopters. Near the Algerian border, a van carrying jihadists was destroyed by a Tiger helicopter and several of its occupants were killed. According to Colonel Thierry Burkhard "a little less than a dozen terrorists" were "neutralized" on 20 February. In addition, Burkhard said that ten targets were destroyed by air strikes from either planes or helicopters in the Adrar des Iforas and Bourem, destroying an armored vehicle and four pick-up. More weapons caches were discovered and several vehicles and rocket launchers were seized.
On 23 February, French air strike took place in the area of Sensa, destroying six jihadists vehicles. According to the MNLA and the citizens of the town of Kidal, 45 fighters from AQIM and Dine Ansar were killed during a French raid. By supporting the French special forces, the MNLA also allegedly took seven prisoners and among the survivors, including the head of AQIM, Seden Ag Hita.
The offensive continued in the Adrar Tigharghar where there are concentrated forces of AQIM . According to Ag Acherif Bilal, head of the MNLA, "There are many areas where AQIM are to the west of Timbuktu, but Tigharghar is their anchor. This is where you will find the bulk of their forces, both human and material. The current battle is of paramount importance. On 26 February, the French Minister of Defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian said that fighting had continued and that there were "many, many dead jihadists."
According to a notable informant at the Aguel'hoc passage of Kidal: "There are French and Chadian troops on the ground, but also many strikes by Tiger Helicopters." He noted that two training camps of the Mujao were hit by airstrikes and dozens of fighters from around Gao were killed. French air strikes continue to destroy shelters and camps and information is collected on the ground.
On Wednesday, 27 February, a LAV 3 GTIA hit a mine near Taghlit In Tessalit. Two French soldiers were wounded, one slightly, and could rejoin his unit the next day. The second was more severely affected, and was evacuated to France.
On 28 February, the French army claimed to have discovered a large weapons dump, thanks to the cooperation of the local population, which contained more than a dozen workshops and caches, four 82mm mortars, 70 122mm rockets, 9 50kg bags of explosive, 3 bottles of improvised explosive and was captured by French troops. That morning, the Staff stated that the French units fighting in the region over the previous few days had killed about 130 Islamists.
March 2013
On 1 March 2013, It was announced that the second-in-command for Al Qaeda in North Africa, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, was killed during fighting between Islamists and French army units.[4]
On 3 March, The Elysée Palace announced that a soldier of the First Parachute Chasseur Regiment was killed in clashes with extremists during the night of 2 March. The French Government announced that the soldier "was mortally wounded during fighting against armed terrorists taking refuge in the Adrar of the Ifoghas, in northern Mali."[5] Colonel Thierry Burkhard told French Media that French paratroopers had been engaged with Terrorists throughout the day on several occasions.[6]
15 Islamists were killed during the day by French Troops during raids in the Ametettai Valley, about fifty miles south of Tessalit, as French troops cleared mountain caves and galleries where Islamists have been hiding. Mr Hollande paid tribute to the soldier and other troops allied troops in Mali. "the courage and zeal of the French forces engaged in combat against armed terrorist groups to restore the full sovereignty of Mali, alongside Malian armed forces and African contingents ".[6]
The fighting continued after 4 March, the French Air Force made 120 trips to the region Tessalit, and 40 air strikes against groups of combatants, combat outposts and artillery pieces. During this same period the French army claims to have "neutralized" forty rebels destroyed nearly a dozen pick-up and an artillery gun, and captured a lot of equipment and ammunition including BM-21, 122D30 3 guns, one 100mm towed gun, one 82mm mortar and one 60mm mortar, as well small-arms, RPGs and anti-personnel mines. Corporal Charenton was killed on 2 March, and the French army had two minor injuries in combat.[7]
15 Islamists killed by the French during the night of 3 to 4 March. Considered terrorists by France, do not enjoy the status of prisoner of war by the Geneva Conventions. The captured terrorists will be presented to Malian authorities. One of the prisoners, a French national, was extradited to France. 4 March, the Valley of Ametettaï was conquered after three weeks of fighting. The area was circled to the east by Chadian and the French troops, and then captured.[7]
From 4 to 7 March, the raids continued in the valley of Ametettaï, since the beginning of the operation the French General Staff believes have "neutralized" more than two hundred and jihadists and have seized a thousand rockets or grenades, more than 60,000 rounds of ammunition, nearly 1,500 shells and twenty heavy weapons such as artillery guns. On 7 March, the French troops in the valley of Amettetai receive a visit from French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.[7]
From 7 to 11 March, in the region of the Adrar des Ifoghas, troops complete their operations of excavation of caves in looking for insurgents. Stocks of weapons and ammunition that are found are either destroyed or seized and brought to Tessalit by French troops. The Islamists retreated and abandoned their positions in the valley of Ametettaï further south. A dozen of the Islamists are killed. Meanwhile, an armored squadron of AMX-10 RC supported by fighters, took part in a reconnaissance mission, northeast of Ifoghas and take over the villages of Boghassa and Tinzawatène . On the way an AMX-10 RC is damaged by mine but the French suffer no casualties.[7]
On the morning of 12 March, soldiers from the 2nd Foreign Legion Parachute Regiment engaged a group of Islamist fighters. Four of the Islamists were killed, and another was taken prisoner. The French had no losses.[8]
On the night of 15 to 16 March 2013, elements of French GTIA 4 and TAP GTIA begin a search and destroy mission in the southern parts of the Ametéttaï Valley, about sixty miles south of Tessalit . In the afternoon of 16 March, an AMX-10 RC hit a mine, three French soldiers were injured, two seriously. The driver of the armored vehicle, Corporal Alexander Van Dooren, was killed. The wounded were evacuated by medical helicopter to a field hospital in Tessalit.[9]
Between 18 and 21 March, French troops continued search and destroy missions in the Terz Valley, south of the Amettetai valley. The Chadian forces, commanded by General Deby, are positioned themselves to block out the escape routes and prevent the arrival of reinforcements from the region of Kidal. 20 March, Chadian and French GTIA 3 perform their junction. During the operation, a truck containing a large stock of ammunition and shells is destroyed by EOD. A 14.5mm machine gun, an anti-tank gun SPG-9, mortars and missile firing station 107 type 85 are also found in a cache. From 21 to 25 March, the French army finished its offensive operations and faced no opposition.
GTIA TAP returned to Tessalit while GTIA 3 is focused on Eastern Adrar to continue their searches. Shells 122 and 120mm PG9, four crates of rockets, mortars 60mm and some mines are seized. Thereafter, the operation led to troops moving into Tessalit to search the city and to ensure the absence of any presence jihadiste. No insurgent were discovered and GTIA then could redeploy two of its SGTIA, who returned Abidjan. During these missions new ammunition caches were discovered but no jihadist group is located. The troops then returned to Kidal, then they were redeployed Gao.[citation needed] April 5, Chadian forces return to turn the city of Kidal[citation needed]
Tessalit is a rural commune and village in the Kidal Region of Mali. The village is the administrative centre of Tessalit Cercle (district). The village lies 85 kilometres (53 mi) north of Adjelhoc and about 70 kilometres (43 mi) from the Algerian border. The commune extends over an area of 30,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi) that is almost entirely desert. In the 2009 census the commune had a population of 5,739.
The Adrar des Ifoghas is a massif located in the Kidal Region of Mali, reaching into Algeria. It has an area of around 250,000 square kilometers.
Ansar Dine (Arabic: أنصار الدين ʾAnṣār ad-Dīn, also transliterated Ançar Deen; meaning "helpers of the religion" 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.
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 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.
Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, was an Algerian national and Islamist jihadi militant and smuggler who, in about 2010, became one of the top three military commanders of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a Mali-based militant organization. He competed as the chief rival of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian national who had become the major commander in AQIM and later head of his own group. Both gained wealth and power by kidnapping and ransoming European nationals. After taking control of Timbuktu in 2012, Abou Zeid established sharia law and destroyed Sufi shrines.
The following is a timeline of major events during the Northern Mali conflict.
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.
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.
On 12 April 2013, four Chadian soldiers were killed, and five civilians were injured, in an attack by two suicide bombers affiliated with the MOJWA in Kidal, Mali.
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 Azawad conflict has been a conflict in Northern Mali between the MNLA, a Tuareg nationalist group, and a coalition of Islamist groups. The conflict began when Northern Mali declared itself independent from the government, creating the unrecognized state of Azawad. The Islamists and MNLA formed an alliance in combatting the Malian government. An internal conflict sprung up over the imposing of sharia law in the new state and the MNLA distancing itself from the coalition to a democratic state. Islamists gained popularity amongst anti-Tuareg tribes which helped them overthrow MNLA authority in Gao. Both sides clashed repeatedly leading to the Battle of Gao, where the MNLA were driven from the North's two main cities, Gao and Timbuktu. The MNLA soon lost all of its strongholds in the North in a matter of months. They went into hiding secretly gaining support and strength. The beginning of 2013 led to the start of the French intervention in Mali that ousted the Islamists from the North's cities and brought back Malian authority. The MNLA supported the French and Chadian forces in military operations against Islamists' sanctuaries in the mountains. The MNLA recaptured several important towns in the Kidal Region but refused to disarm or hand them over to the Malian government. A series of Islamist-sponsored terror attacks plagued MNLA forces for siding with the French. Checkpoints and bases were targeted with suicide bombings that targeted MNLA members. A peace deal was reached with the Malian army in June that let the army transverse freely in MNLA-occupied zones that were under Malian jurisdiction. Ethnic violence sprung over the murder of a Tuareg Government officer's family. The MNLA responded by harassing and murdering Fulani civilians, who constitute a majority of Islamist rebels. The Islamists stepped up their attacks in one such instance massacring 30 Tuareg merchants. The MNLA has since been battling Islamists.
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 following lists events that happened during 2013 in the Republic of Mali.
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.
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.
The Battle of Timetrine was a battle between French forces and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) militants in Timetrine, in Tessalit.
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.
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