Battle of Anefis (June 2013) | |||||||
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Part of Mali War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Mali | MNLA | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Didier Dacko El Hadj Ag Gamou | Unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Several hundred men | 400 men | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 injured (per Mali) Six vehicles destroyed with unknown casualties, 12 prisoners (per MNLA) 10 injured (per France) | 2 dead, 2 injured (per MNLA) 30 killed, 28 prisoners (per Mali) |
On June 5, 2013, clashes broke out between the Malian Army and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) in the village of Anefis. Malian forces entered and quickly captured the town, leading to diplomatic pushback from the MNLA.
As negotiations between the Malian government and MNLA dragged on in Ouagadougou in mid-2013, the ceasefire on the ground between the two groups worsened on June 2. In Kidal Region, MNLA fighters arrested several people in their area of control. While many were released the next day, around ten to twenty people accused of being spies or Malian soldiers remained in detention. [1] The Malian government accused the MNLA of targeting Songhai, Fulani, and Ikelan minorities, all black groups in the region. Witnesses stated that black residents of Kidal were forced to plead allegiance to the MNLA under duress, or else they would be expelled to Gao. The next day, the MNLA stated that all of those arrested who weren't from Azawad would be sent to Douentza. [1] [2]
The MNLA stated that twenty of the original 180 prisoners were Malians, and would therefore be deported to Douentza. Some of those exiled to Gao stated that while in MNLA detention, they were not given food and were accused of being Malians. [3] [4] On June 4, Malian forces entered the town of Anéfis, on the edge of Kidal Region, with Malian spokesmen stating they were preparing for an offensive in Kidal. [5]
On June 5, around 5:30am, the Malian Army attacked MNLA positions in Anefis after entering the town the night before. MNLA spokesman Ibrahim Ag Mohamed Assaleh stated that the Malian forces were commanded by Didier Dacko and El Hadj Ag Gamou, and they had around three hundred vehicles and BRDM-2s. [6] Fighting began around fifteen kilometers west of Anefis, and subsided after a few hours. Malian spokesman Souleymane Maiga confirmed Malian control of the city, which was corroborated a few hours later by the MNLA. [7] [8]
Maiga stated that ten MNLA fighters were killed and twenty-eight taken prisoner, and that there were no Malian casualties during the battle. [9] Dacko disputed this, stating that two Malian soldiers received bullet wounds. In a statement on June 6, the Malian government revised the toll and claimed thirty MNLA fighters were killed. [10] [6] MNLA spokesman Moussa Ag Acharatoumane stated that by midday on June 5, two MNLA fighters were killed and two were injured. He also claimed that six armored vehicles were blown up with the Malian soldiers inside, and that a dozen Malian soldiers were taken prisoner. [11] [12] A French military source stated that ten Malian soldiers were wounded in the battle. [13]
The French government condemned the MNLA's arbitrary arrests in Kidal, and called for the MNLA in a second statement on June 5 to lay down their arms. [14] [15] The MNLA denounced France's reactions, and claimed French officials held double standards with the MNLA compared to when France "refrained from making the slightest protest against the daily massacre of Tuaregs and Moors" in Tombouctou and Mopti regions. [16] The MNLA also accused the Malian army of violating the ceasefire negotiated for during the Ouagadougou agreements, which were ongoing. [16]
French forces dispatched ten to twenty men to Anefis to quell tensions there following Mali's capture of the town. They later sent a "protection detachment" of a hundred men. [17]
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 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.
The Second Battle of Kidal took place during the Mali War, when MNLA forces in control of Kidal attacked Prime Minister Moussa Mara's convoy during a visit to the town. Consequently, Malian government forces launched an offensive to retake the city, successfully recapturing it.
The Ouagadagou Declaration is the final declaration signed by the six political and military movements of Azawad, following a meeting that took place in Burkina Faso at the end of August 2014. The purpose of the declaration was to put an end to hostilities in northern Mali and to establish a political and legal status for Azawad. It was signed on August 28, 2014 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. During this meeting, the groups were gathered together for the first time since the Ouagadougou Agreements of June 2013. The meeting took place following the first round of the Algiers peace negotiations in July 2014 and before these negotiations resumed in Algiers on September 1, 2014.
The ambush of Tinsalane occurred on February 11, 2012, when armed groups of Ansar Dine and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) fought against a convoy of the Malian army who came to reinforce the troops besieged in Tessalit.
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.
Ba Ag Moussa was a Malian militant and jihadist.
Hassan Ag Fagaga, born around 1959 or 1966, in Kidal, Mali, was a Malian soldier and a Tuareg rebel.
El Hadj Ag Gamou, born December 31, 1964, in Tidermène, Mali, is an Imghad Tuareg Malian division general. Gamou is currently the governor of Kidal Region since November 22, 2023, and has also been the head of his faction of Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies since the group's foundation. Prior to his governorship, Gamou served in the Malian army, commanding Malian troops against Ansar Dine and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) in the early stages of the Mali War.
The High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA) (French: Haut conseil pour l'unité de l'Azawad) is a Tuareg political movement formed on May 2, 2013, during the Mali War. The movement was initially called the High Council of Azawad (HCA) (French: Haut conseil de l'Azawad) before changing its name on May 19, 2013.
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.
Alghabass Ag Intalla is a Malian Tuareg politician and prominent leader of the High Council for the Unity of Azawad and the Coordination of Azawad Movements.
On August 17, 2015, clashes broke out between pro-government GATIA militants and rebels from the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) in the town of Anefis and surrounding areas. The dispute was settled in September.
Between July 19 and 22, 2014, pro-government rebels from GATIA and other militias clashed with rebels from the MNLA, HCUA, and dissident MAA in Tabankort, rural Gao Region, Mali. Clashes were paused after MINUSMA intervened.
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 November 8, 2013, clashes broke out between Malian forces and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) in Amazragane, Ménaka Region, Mali.
Didier Dacko is a Malian general who commanded Malian forces during the early stages of the Mali War, and reversed the gains made by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and jihadist groups in 2013.
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.
On September 11, 2013, clashes broke out between Malian forces and National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) fighters at a camp near the village of Fooïta, near the Mauritanian border. The battle was the first conflict between the Malian government and MNLA since the signing of the Ouagadougou Agreement.
Between May 17 and 18, 2013, the town of Anéfis, at the time controlled by the MNLA, was attacked by the Arab Movement of Azawad's pro-government faction. The MAA captured the town, but quickly abandoned it. The battle occurred amid high tensions between Kunta Arabs and Lemhar Arabs.