On February 8, 2012, rebels from the separatist Movement for the National Liberation of Azawad attacked a military outpost in

Tinzaouaten Tinzaouaten (var. Tinzawatene and Tin-Zaouatene, Arabic: تين ظواتين) is a Saharan rural commune in the far northeast of Mali on the Algerian border. The commune is in the Abeïbara Cercle of the Kidal Region. It included a stop on a trans ...

located on the

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n borderline. The battle led to the capture of the city by rebel forces of 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 ...

. A Malian government statement was released the following day declaring a "strategic withdrawal" from its base in Tinzaouaten. A Malian soldier was killed. Ten were captured and 37 defected and were retrieved by Algerian authorities.

The battle

On February 7, 2012, the city of Tinzawatene was attacked by the rebels. Malian forces managed to repel the initial attack after several hours of combat, but the city was captured by the rebels the next day. According to MNLA spokesman Hama Ag Sid'Ahmed, the separatists took control of two military camps in the city and took several military vehicles. The Malian army withdrew the garrison to Algeria, but denied defeat by referring to the move as a "strategic retreat". On March 20,

Ansar Dine Ansar Dine ( ar, أنصار الدين ''ʾAnṣār ad-Dīn'', also transliterated ''Ançar Deen''; meaning " helpers of the religion" (Islam) also known as Ansar al-Din (abbreviated as AAD) was a Salafi jihadist group led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. Ans ...

also claimed to have control of Tinzawatene.

Aftermath

According to the report released by the MNLA, more than 34 Malian soldiers fled to Algeria, 5 were wounded, 10 taken prisoner (including an officer), against a single wounded soldier on their side. The separatists also claimed to have captured several vehicles. Spokesman Hama Ag Sid'Ahmed, however, mentions both dead and injured in the ranks of the MNLA. According to an unnamed official Malian source, there was no fighting or loss of life as the army decided to abandon the isolated positions for tactical reasons. However, according to Reuters, the Malian government indicates in a statement on February 8 that one soldier was killed and two others wounded.

References

Battles of the Tuareg rebellion (2012) Tinzaouaten 2012 February 2012 events in Mali In Guezzam Province Battles involving the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad {{mali-stub Battles involving Ansar Dine 2012 in Algeria Tinzaouaten 2012 Tinzaouaten 2012 Spillover of the Mali War