| Bombardment of Ametettai | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mali War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |  al-Mourabitoun | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Unknown | Omar Ould Hamaha † Abdelwaheb al-Harrachi † | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 11 killed Several injured | ||||||
Between March 4 and 5, 2014, French forces conducted a bombing campaign in the Ametettai mountains of Kidal Region against al-Mourabitoun. The bombings killed Omar Ould Hamaha, a prominent jihadist commander, and several other militants.
During the initial days of Operation Serval, French forces launched raids against Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other jihadists groups in their headquarters in the Ametettai mountains in rural Kidal Region. Chadian forces fought a major battle in the Ametettai mountains during the Battle of Ifoghas in February and March 2013. In January 2014, American-made Reaper drones bought by France were used in Mali for the first time. [1]
On March 4, French observation drones spotted a group of jihadists in the Ametettai valley. According to French minister of defense Jean-Yves Le Drian, around ten militants had rockets launchers and an arms cache. [1] French fighter jets then came back to Ametettai in the late afternoon of March 4, and launched airstrikes five hours later. [2] The jihadists shot back with a single rocket attack, but it missed. [2]
A Malian army official stated eleven jihadists were killed in the bombing. A few others were injured, and were able to escape. [3] [2] French intelligence stated Omar Ould Hamaha, a prominent jihadist commander, and Abdelwaheb al-Harrachi were killed in the attack. [4] [5] These statements were disputed by AQIM spokesperson Abou Assem al-Moujahir, who claimed Hamaha was still alive and that the French statements were unfounded. [6]
Omar Ould Hamaha was an Islamist militia commander from Northern Mali. During the 2012 Northern Mali conflict he became known alternatively as the spokesman and chief of staff for both Ansar Dine and Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), militant groups associated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
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.
The Battle of Khalil took place on 22–23 February 2013 and was part of the Northern Mali conflict, the battle began on the 22nd with two suicide bombings.
The Battle of Timbuktu occurred in Timbuktu, Mali, in March 2013, between Islamist groups and Mali government forces supported by France.
Ahmed al-Tilemsi, nom de guerre of Abderrahmane Ould El Amar was a Malian jihadist leader and drug trafficker who served as a founding member and senior figure of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and a senior figure and alleged emir of al-Mourabitoun.
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Ba Ag Moussa was a Malian militant and jihadist.
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The Mondoro attack took place on 4 March 2022, when al-Qaeda-linked jihadists attacked a Malian military base, causing heavy casualties.
Between December 20 and 21, 2019, French forces under Operation Barkhane launched an attack on Katibat Macina fighters in rural parts of the Wagadou forest near Wagadou, Mali.
The battle of Elakla took place on February 21, 2019, between French forces of Operation Barkhane and al-Qaeda aligned Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.
The raid on Tin Biden occurred between October 23 and 24, 2017, between French forces of Operation Barkhane and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin in the remote wadi of Tin Biden, Kidal Region, Mali. In the battle, French forces killed eleven Malian prisoners of war held captive by JNIM.
Nabil Makhloufi, nom de guerre Nabil Abou Alqama, was an Algerian jihadist who fought in the Algerian Civil War and the Mali War, and served as the head of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)'s Sahara region between 2011 and 2012.
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On January 5, 2015, militants from Katiba Macina and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) overran Malian defenses and briefly captured the city of Nampalari, Mali.
Between December 10 and 11, 2014, French forces ambushed militants from al-Mourabitoun near Tabankort, Gao Region, Mali. The ambush led to the death of Ahmed al-Tilemsi, the founder of MOJWA and a key figure in al-Mourabitoun.
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.
Mohamed Lemine Ould El Hassen, nom de guerre Abdallah al-Chinguetti, was a Mauritanian jihadist and commander of Katiba Al Furqan of the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Between October 26 and November 8, 2014, French forces of Operation Barkhane launched an offensive against jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Ansar Dine in the area of Ametettai, rural Kidal Region. It was dubbed Operation Tudelle by French authorities.
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).
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