Ménaka (
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
: ⵎⵏⴾⴰ) is a town and
urban commune in
Ménaka Cercle and
Ménaka Region
Ménaka ( Bambara: ߡߋߣߊߞߊ ߘߌߣߋߖߊ tr. Menaka Dineja) is a region of Mali legislatively created in 2012 from the cercle of the same name previously part of Gao Region. Actual implementation of the region began on 19 January 2016 with t ...
in eastern
Mali. It is the seat and the largest town in the ''cercle'' and region. The town is set amidst the rocky outcrops of the Ader Douchi hills, and is served by
Ménaka Airport
Ménaka Airport is an airport serving Ménaka, a town and commune in the Ménaka Cercle in the Gao Region of Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaand ...
.
Tuareg rebellions
The Ménaka area was a center of
Ag El Insar Firhoun
A&G, AG, Ag or ag may refer to
Businesses and organizations
* A&G Railroad (former reporting mark AG)
* Action Group (Nigeria), a political party during the Nigerian First Republic
* Aktiengesellschaft, a German type of corporation
* Assemblie ...
's Malian rising of larger
1916 Tuareg Rebellion, and was a government garrison town in the
1961–1964,
1990–1995, and the
2007–2009 Tuareg Rebellions. Most recently, Ménaka was put under siege and the military post sacked by former rebels who had been integrated into the
Malian Army in a short term rising in May–July 2006. The current
May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change
The May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change (french: Alliance Démocratique du 23 mai pour le Changement; abbreviated ADC) is a Malian Tuareg rebel group, formed in 2006 by ex-combatants from the 1990s Tuareg insurgency in Mali. In 2007, spli ...
rebel group dates from this siege.
On 17 January 2012, Ménaka was captured by the
National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad
The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad or the Azawad National Liberation Movement (Tamasheq: '; ar, الحركة الوطنية لتحرير أزواد ''al-Ḥarakat al-Waṭaniyat Litaḥrīr ʾĀzawād''; french: Mouvement nati ...
(MNLA), a Tuareg rebel group. On 19 November they lost their control to the
Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
2009 kidnappings
On 25 November 2009, a French citizen named Pierre Camatte was taken hostage from a hotel in Ménaka city. A January 2010 statement issued by the
AQIM
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في بلاد المغرب الإسلامي, Tanẓīm al-Qā'idah fī Bilād al-Maghrib al-Islāmī), or AQIM, is an Islamist militant organization (of al-Qaeda) that aims to ...
, the north African branch of al-Qaeda, set an ultimatum of 20 days for the exchange of four al-Qaeda members for Pierre Camatte, after which, it said the French and Malian governments "will be fully responsible for the French hostage's life". Camatte was freed 6 weeks later following a prisoner swap deal in which the four Islamists were released.
Slavery
Malian and international Human Rights organisations pointed to Ménaka in 2008, as one of several towns in the
Gao Region in which informal
slavery relations persist between noble caste
Tuareg pastoralists and thousands of sedentary low caste
Bellah Tuareg.
Mali: Thousands Still Live in Slavery in North
IRIN (United Nations). 14 July 2008.
References
External links
*.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menaka
Regional capitals in Mali
Communes of Ménaka Region