He was one of the founders of the May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change, and became the sole leader of the Tuareg rebellion in 2009 after the rest of the ADC signed peace agreements.

[4][5] In December 2001, Bahanga took ten Malian soldiers hostage to have his village of Tin Essako established as a commune.

[3] His main base in Tinsalak was destroyed by the Malian Army in 2009, and he was pushed out of Mali at the Battle of Toulousimine.

He returned with former comrades from the Islamic Legion and veterans of the 1990 rebellion, some of whom were officers in the Libyan Army such as Mohamed Ag Najem.

[11] Bahanga died on August 26, 2011 when his car flipped over in the Tamesna desert near the village of Intadjedite on his way to Libya.