Araouane
Araouane or Arawan is a small village in the Malian part of the Sahara Desert, lying north of Timbuktu on the caravan route to the salt-mining centre of Taoudenni. The village once served as an entrepôt in the trans-Saharan trade.
History
Betw ...
in
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. Mal ...
's
Tombouctou Region
Tombouctou Region ( Bambara: ߕߎߡߎߕߎ ߘߌߣߋߖߊ tr. Tumutu Dineja) is one of the administrative regions of Mali. For administrative purposes, the region is subdivided into five cercles.
The region is part of northern Mali that was separ ...
, after French forces launched an attack against JNIM militants in the area. The initial and subsequent engagements were part of
Operation Barkhane
Operation Barkhane was an anti-insurgent operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region.French forces fired on a JNIM vehicle in the
Araouane
Araouane or Arawan is a small village in the Malian part of the Sahara Desert, lying north of Timbuktu on the caravan route to the salt-mining centre of Taoudenni. The village once served as an entrepôt in the trans-Saharan trade.
History
Betw ...
area on 29 March 2018, killing two militants and capture one. It was later confirmed that one of the dead was Moroccan Said al-Maghribi, an AQIM-JNIM commander and explosives expert close to AQIM's regional leader and a senior leader of JNIM, Djamel Okacha.
A second engagement was started by French forces on 6 April 2018, when they attacked JNIM militants in the same area, first with an airstrike and then with
ground forces
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
. The battle resulted in the death of JNIM Mauritanian commander Ayman al-Shanqiti, along with five other militants. One militant was also captured
MINUSMA
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (, MINUSMA) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali. MINUSMA was established on 25 April 2013 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2100 to stabilise t ...
base in
Timbuktu Airport
Timbuktu Airport is an airport in Timbuktu, Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt ...
, known informally as the "super camp". One MINUSMA peacekeeper was killed, whilst 14 others were wounded; however, 15 militants were killed and the attempted raid was repelled.