Bassiknou or Bassikounou is a town and commune in the Hodh Ech Chargui Region of south-eastern Mauritania.

[2] The region around Bassikounou was a part of the Tichitt culture area.

Oral traditions record that the founders of the city of Dia in the Inland Niger Delta originated from there.

In July 2011, the town was the site of the Battle of Bassikounou, where Mauritanian armed forced defeated the jihadist AQIM group.

This influx has stressed limited local resources of food, water, firewood, and grazing land.