Aguelhok also known as Adjelhoc (the official name) is a rural commune and village in the Kidal Region of eastern

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

in the

Tessalit Cercle Tessalit Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Kidal Region of Mali. The administrative centre is the village of Tessalit. The '' cercle'' is divided into communes, and below this, quarters/villages. As of 2009 the ''cercle'' had a popula ...

. In the census of 2009 the commune had a population of 8,080.

Geography

Adjelhoc is situated in the north of the Tilemsi Valley. Located in the

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

massif of the

Adrar des Ifoghas The Adrar des Ifoghas (also Adrar des Iforas; Tamasheq: ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵉⴼⵓⵖⴰⵙ in Tifinagh; Adrar n Ifoghas; ar, أدرار إيفوغاس Ifoghas' Mountains) is a massif located in the Kidal Region of Mali, reaching into Algeri ...

, Adjelhoc lies 430 km north of

Gao Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ...

and 150 km south of the Algerian border, in open

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

. The area of the commune is approximately 22,000 km², that is to say the equivalent of

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

. The population is 95%

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern A ...

. The majority have a

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

ic lifestyle. In January 2012, the Islamist group Ansar Dine captured a military base at Aguelhok from Malian government forces. France accused the group of summarily executing 82 soldiers and following the capture, describing the group's tactics as "Al-Qaeda-style". In all 128-153 soldiers were killed. On 29 July 2012, Islamists stoned a couple to death for having children outside of marriage. An official reported that many people left the town for Algeria following the incident.

References

{{Communes of the Kidal Region Communes of Kidal Region Tuareg