Mali Tuareg rebellion (2012): 2012 coup Internal conflict in Azawad: Foreign intervention: 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 The Battle of Aguelhok (also called the Aguelhok Massacre)[6][7][8][9] occurred when rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and Islamists groups Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb attacked a Malian army garrison base in the town of Aguelhok, Kidal Region of Northern Mali on 17 January 2012, as part of the larger Tuareg rebellion to seize all government bases in the region.

The assault begins at 3.30 am, when the attackers cut the telephone network, while a group, hidden by the houses of the city progressed to the military camp without being seen.

According to an intelligence officer in Mali, the attackers were commanded by Colonel deserter Ibah or M'Bam Ag Moussa, known as "Bamoussa".

The Malian president Amadou Toumani Toure later commented during a conference on 15 March about the incident,[21] "The garrison had no more ammunition and it was impossible to transport reinforcements.

MNLA who claimed victory bears a heavy responsibility, but we know that the largest contingent of the group was composed primarily of people of AQIM. "

[13] Toure later remarked in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro; “les soldats qui se sont battus vaillamment ont été faits prisonniers”.

Il poursuit “lorsque le MNLA a quitté les lieux nous avons découvert une tragédie.

Ils ont été abattus par des balles tirées à bout portant dans la tête.

C’est un crime de guerre”[3] On 1 February, violence in the north of the country led to anti-rebellion protests which shut down Bamako, Mali's capital.