| Raid on Akla | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Insurgency in the Sahel | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Mauritania  France |  AQIM | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 6 killed 1 injured | ||||||
On July 22, 2010, French and Mauritanian forces launched a raid on an Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) base in Tombouctou Region, Mali, in an attempt to rescue French hostage Michel Germaneau. The forces were able to destroy the base, but Germaneau was not rescued and later executed by AQIM.
Between April 19 and April 22, 2010, French national Michel Germaneau and his driver were kidnapped by jihadists from Abdelhamid Abou Zeid's katiba, part of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The driver was released on April 29, but Germaneau was kept by the jihadists for several months. [1] On July 11, AQIM threatened to execute Germaneau within fifteen days if two AQIM officials; one held in an Algerian jail and Rachid Ramda, were not released. [2]
On July 22, 2010, Mauritanian special intervention groups supported by French Action Division paratroopers raided an AQIM camp in rural Tombouctou Region in Mali, around 150 kilometers from the Mauritanian border. Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré was not informed of the raid beforehand, as he wasn't considered very active in the war against jihadists. [3] [4] Little is known about what occurred during the battle, however it is known that the raid occurred at an AQIM camp near Akla, a village in the desert of Tombouctou. [3] [4] Mauritanian Defense Minister Mohamed Ould Boilil stated that AQIM was preparing an attack on a Mauritanian military barracks in Bassikounou, and that the raid was a preventative measure by the Mauritanians. For the French, the primary objective was to free Germaneau. [5] [6]
Around ten AQIM fighters were defending the camp at the time of the raid, and they were quickly defeated by a contingent of twenty to thirty French soldiers and an even larger number of Mauritanians. [7] Germaneau was not present at the base at the time of the raid. [8] Two residents of Timbuktu were arrested by Mauritanian soldiers as well, but released a few days later. [9] Boilil stated that six jihadists were killed in the raid and one injured, as well as four others fleeing. Explosives, weaponry, and "means of communications" were seized from the camp. Boilil also stated that no Mauritanian soldiers were killed or injured in the battle, thanking French intelligence and assistance. [5] The deaths of six fighters were confirmed by AQIM emir Abdelmalek Droukdel several days later. [10] Droukdel also claimed that the raid occurred during negotiations for Germaneau's release, which French authorities denied. [10]
On July 25, AQIM published an audio recording announcing the execution of Germaneau in response to the raid on Akla. [11] A Malian official stated that Germaneau was executed in front of Droukdel, but French Prime Minister François Fillon called those statements "inexact." [12] French journalist Jean-Dominique Merchet claimed that Germaneau was not executed, and instead died of a lack of heart medication. [13]
A Malian intermediary in negotiations for Germaneau's release, however, stated that a French national was indeed executed in retaliation for the raid. This was clarified from a confession by Tunisian AQIM fighter Bechir Bessnoun during a foiled attack. Bessnoun stated that Germaneau was executed with a bullet to the head in Adrar Tigharghar of the Adrar des Ifoghas of Mali. The executioner was Hamada Ag Hama, on the orders of Abou Zeid and Djamel Okacha. [14] [15]
The raid was seen as a serious failure by the Élysée and the Action Division. [16] Germaneau's body was never found, but his passport was discovered by Chadian soldiers in Adrar Tigharghar during the Battle of Tigharghar. [17]
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 Timbuktu occurred in Timbuktu, Mali, in March 2013, between Islamist groups and Mali government forces supported by France.
The Second Battle of Timbuktu was a battle during the Mali War between March 30 and April 1, 2013, in which two Islamist attacks targeted the Malian army in Timbuktu. With help from the French, both attacks were prevented from capturing any significant sites in the city.
Amadou Koufa, nom de guerre of Amadou Diallo, also spelled Hamadoun Kouffa or Amadou Kouffa is a Malian Fulani jihadist and preacher who founded Katiba Macina, later part of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.
On January 15, 2016, unknown militants ambushed Malian forces near Wanna, in Goundam Cercle, Mali.
On August 3, 2015, jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) launched an attack on Malian forces in Gourma-Rharous, Mali. Eleven Malian soldiers were killed in the attack.
Hamada Ould Mohamed Kheirou nom de guerre Abu Qum-Qum was a Mauritanian jihadist and the founder of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO/MOJWA).
On July 2, 2015, a MINUSMA convoy was ambushed by jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb en route from Goundam to Timbuktu.
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.
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.
Abderrahmane Talha, also known as Abou Talha al-Mauritani or Talha al-Libyy, is a Mauritanian jihadist who is the wali of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin's territory in Tombouctou Region.
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).
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.
On July 5, 2011, clashes broke out between Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Mauritanian forces in Bassikounou, Mauritania.
On June 24, 2011, Malian and Mauritanian forces launched an offensive into the Wagadou Forest, an area on the Malian-Mauritanian border known as a hideout for Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. While the joint forces were able to destroy the camp, some jihadists escaped.
The battle of Areich Hind, also known as the Battle of Raz el-Ma, took place between September 17 and 19, 2010, during the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel. Mauritanian forces launched an offensive against a group of AQIM jihadists in Malian territory on September 17.
On July 4, 2009, clashes broke out between Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Malian forces near Araouane, Mali.
On June 16, 2009, Malian forces clashed with jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Garn-Akassa, Kidal Region, Mali.
The Tourine ambush, also known as the Tourine massacre, was one of the September 14, 2008, jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) ambushed Mauritanian soldiers in the village of Tourine, near Zouérat, Mauritania. The ambush was the first major attack by AQIM during the Insurgency in the Sahel, and sparked major changes in the Mauritanian military.
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