Tuareg rebellion (2012): 2012 coup Internal conflict in Azawad: Foreign intervention: 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 On December 3, 2023, jihadists from the Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISSP) launched simultaneous attacks against Malian forces and allied Wagner Group mercenaries in Labbézanga, Gao Region, and against Tuareg militia groups in Ménaka Region.

Labbezanga is a small town on the border between Mali and Niger, deep in territory controlled by the jihadist groups Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISSP).

Around this same time, the Malian Army began cooperating with the Russian Wagner Group after the junta kicked the French of Operation Barkhane out a year prior.

The attack in Menaka targeted the pro-government Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA) and GATIA militias, and briefly ended after an hour of fighting.

Malian officials claimed that Operation Moniko killed sixty-five jihadists and arrested forty-two others.