In the months prior to the battle of Areich Hind, jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb had been expanding into Mali's desolate Tombouctou Region.

Mauritanian and Malian forces had launched a raid into the region in July 2010, near the town of Akla, to eliminate an AQIM camp.

The raid destroyed the camp, but AQIM militants executed the French hostage Michel Germaneau shortly afterward.

[1] On September 17, Mauritanian forces ambushed a convoy of around twenty AQIM vehicles headed towards the Malian border.

AQIM claimed the victims of the bombings were civilians, while the Mauritanian army stated that several jihadists were killed in the raid.