Konna is a town and rural commune in the Cercle of Mopti in the Mopti Region of

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 ...

. The town lies 60 km northeast of

Mopti Mopti ( Bambara: ߡߏߕߌ tr. Moti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the conflue ...

on the eastern edge of the flood plain of the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

. The main RN16 highway linking

Sévaré Sévaré (or Sevare) is a town in the Mopti Region of Mali. It is a crossroads town of about 40,000 situated about southeast of Mopti and south of Fatoma, the old capital of Kunaari. From Sévaré one can access Bandiagara to the east, Gao a ...

and

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 ...

branches to the east just to the south of the town. The commune has an area of approximately 838 km² and contains the town and 24 of the surrounding villages. In the 2009 census, it had a population of 36,767. A weekly market is held in the town on Thursdays that attracts many people from the surrounding settlements. Konna has mix of

Fulbe The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...

, Fulbe-Rimaibe, and Marka peoples, and also some Dogon and Songhay people.

Northern Mali conflict

In January 2013, Konna was captured by Islamists. The attack triggered French intervention in the war, and with their aid the

Malian government forces The Malian Armed Forces (french: links=no, Forces Armées Maliennes) consists of the Army (french: Armée de Terre, links=no), Republic of Mali Air Force (french: Force Aérienne de la Republique du Mali, links=no), and National Guard (french: G ...

swiftly launched a

counterattack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

to retake the town. It was initially claimed by the Malian government that it had been successful in recapturing the town. However, it was later denied by French military officials that the town had been retaken. Fighting continued and the town was confirmed to be under Malian government control three days later..

References

External links

*. Communes of Mopti Region {{Mopti-geo-stub