[1] On December 20, ATNM fighters attacked the Malian garrison at Nampala after travelling around a thousand kilometers from their bases in Algeria.

The ATNM convoy was spotted en route by American satellites, but Malian officials dismissed the warning.

[3] Malian security sources alleged that the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) was embedded with the ATNM.

[3] The Malian Ministry of Defense stated nine soldiers and eleven rebels were killed in the attack.

Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré ordered colonels El Hadj Ag Gamou and Ould Meydou to begin Operation Djigutugu to destroy ATNM bases in and around northern Mali.