[1] On January 20, 2009, Malian forces announced the capture of an ATNM base at Tinsalak, and that the surrounding area was under the control of Malian forces under the command of El Hadj Ag Gamou, Ould Meydou, Ag Cherif, Faisal, and Baba Ahmed.

[2] However, two days after the capture of Tinsalak, Malian forces were ambushed by ATNM fighters in Toulousimine.

Malian security sources stated twenty rebels were killed and twenty-five prisoners were taken, including fifteen injured.

A source close to notable leaders in Kidal instead stated ten fighters were killed and nine were captured.

[3][4] The failed ambush at Toulousimine was one of the last major attacks carried out by the ATNM during the Tuareg rebellion, and cemented the fracture between Ibrahim Ag Bahanga's faction of the ATNM and the remaining fighters of the May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change (ADC).