[2] On Sunday, February 10, 2013 Islamic rebels with the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa launched a raid on the city, possibly from the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains.

According to French General Bernard Barrera, the militants used motorcycles and pirogues via the Niger River to infiltrate the city.

[3][4] Fighting began around 2 PM near the central police station in downtown Gao, and later spread across the city, lasting for several hours.

[6] Malian gendarme Colonel Saliou Maiga told Reuters the insurgents intended to carry out suicide attacks in the town.

The fighting was interrupted by dusk, but the next morning at 5:00, a French helicopter bombed and destroyed the Gao police station, thus ending the battle.