[2] In 1980, at the age of 16, Gamou joined the Libyan Army's Islamic Legion, where he met Iyad Ag Ghaly.

[3] After a year of training in Libya, and a subsequent six-month stint in Syria with special forces, Gamou served in the Lebanese Civil War alongside the Palestinians.

[4] Satisfied with the peace accords that ended the Tuareg rebellion in 1996, Gamou joined the Malian Armed Forces later that year.

[3] During Gamou's tenure in Kidal, the Niger-Mali Tuareg Alliance led by Ibrahim Ag Bahanga rose up.

[6][7] Around this time, Gamou was considered a trusted confidant of Malian president Amadou Toumani Touré, being appointed deputy chief of staff in 2010.

In 2015, Gamou's daughter married Cherif Ould Taher, another Lemhar Arab affiliated with the Air Cocaine scandal.

At the end of March 2012, when Kidal was attacked by the rebels, Gamou and his contingent of 500-600 men abandoned the city and retreated south.

The suspect, who later announced his affiliation with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was overpowered by Gamou, his bodyguard, and driver.

[22] Shortly afterward, the MNLA accused French troops of firing upon a convoy carrying Abdoul Karim Ag Matafa, the minister of health for the Transitional Council of the Azawad State.

[23] In late February 2013, nineteen men from Gamou's militia served as French guides during the Battle of Tigharghar.

Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta did not fully trust Gamou, but tolerated him due to support from Dacko, who was chief of staff.

[11] GATIA and the Coordination of Azawad Movements fought in Kidal in late 2015, before signing the Algiers Accords in October 2015.

[33] Following a counteroffensive against the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara in 2017 by the French Army, Malian Army, GATIA, and the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad, ISGS caliph Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi threatened Gamou, Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, and the Idaksahak and Imghad Tuaregs.

[35] During a Malian army counteroffensive against the Coordination of Azawad Movements and CSP-PSD, Gamou assisted in capturing Kidal.