Tuareg rebellion (2012): 2012 coup Internal conflict in Azawad: Foreign intervention: 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 On October 23, 2013, Katiba Salahadin militants attacked Chadian peacekeepers in the city of Tessalit, sparking a battle between the militants and Chadian and French forces.

Tessalit, in northern Kidal Region, was the site of the second battle of the Mali War, when moderate Tuareg forces of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and jihadist fighters from Ansar Dine besieged Malian troops at the Amachach base in Tessalit, and captured the city after two months.

[1] Following the Malian counteroffensive in 2013, Chadian peacekeepers from MINUSMA and French forces of Operation Serval were stationed in the city.

[2][3][4] Shortly afterward, three other suicide bombers between the ages of 17 and 30 equipped with vests carrying Chinese 60mm mortar shells and AKMs rifles ran towards the peacekeepers.

[4] The attack was claimed the same day by Sultan Ould Bady, commander and founder of Katibat Salahadin.