Battle of Kidal (2012) – Wikipedia

View in 2005, from the entrance to Kidal.

General informations

Date	26 – 30 mars 2012
Place	Left -handed
Issue	Rebels victory

Forces in the presence

500 men [ first ]

unknown

Losses

unknown ~ 50 to 100 prisoners

unknown

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Mali War

Battles

Mali War Battles

modifier

The first battle of Kidal takes place during the Mali War. THE 30 mars 2012 , the city is taken by the rebel forces of the MNLA and Ansar Dine.

Taking Kidal by rebels [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

On March 26, 2012, the city of Kidal was surrounded by the independence forces of the MNLA, as well as by the Islamist troops of Ansar Dine. A framework of the MNLA reaffirms that there are no links between the two entities, but recognizes that the situation is ambiguous. Testimonials from residents of Kidal claim, however, that the two groups carried out the operation jointly ^{[ 2 ] , [ 3 ] , [ 4 ]} . According to AFP information, Ansar Dine’s men were however the most numerous ^{[ 5 ]} .

The MNLA claims to have proposed to the Governor of Kidal and Colonel Gamou to promote the surrender of the army in order to avoid a bloodshed. On the 29th, Kidal was attacked by Ansar Dine and the MNLA, the Islamists attack from the south while the separatists launch the assault in the North ^{[ 2 ] , [ 3 ] , [ 4 ]} .

On the first day, the assault was rejected by the Malian soldiers, but the next day some Tuareg militiamen of Ag Gamou, in particular the combatants from Libya, desert to join the rebels. On the 30th, the rest of the soldiers, demoralized and exhausted, abandon the city ^{[ first ]} .

A soldier close to Colonel-Major Elhadji Ag Gamou Malien testifies:

“We were 504 armed men, 300 Tamasheqs and 204 from the South. Since March 23, in Kidal, the Tuareg rebels of the MNLA and the Islamist group Ansar Dine of Iyad Ag Ghali have surrounded us. The MNLA wanted AG Gamou to regain the ranks of the rebels, and Ag Ghali completely wanted its head, for having searched the Ifoghas family houses and especially to have forced the son of the powerful Amanokal of Kidal, Intalla Ag Attaher, to leave the city in February . (…) We were tired, because we spent the day repelling the rebels and watched over the following night so as not to be surprised by an attack. Around 7 am, some of us started sleeping, but an hour later, the first rebels shot resounded on the east side of the city. We no longer wanted to fight ^{[ first ]} . »

The MNLA claims victory ^{[ 6 ] , [ 7 ]} . Abdul Karim Ag Matafa, the president of the Revolutionary Council of the MNLA enters the city ^{[ 8 ]} . However, according to witnesses, elements of Aqmi also take part in the clashes. After the fighting, Iyad Ag Ghali, chief of Ansar Dine entered the city “At the head of a procession of vehicles. »» The Governor of the Region, six other local officials, the army area commander, the colonel of the special units and the gendarmerie chief “Are held safe” At a traditional chief, according to a local official ^{[ 9 ]} .

Malian army retirement [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The Malians fall back south, Colonel Alhaji Ag Gamou then calls Assalat Ag Habad, colonel of the MNLA who occupies the area and declares that he accepts his offer to reach the MNLA in exchange for protection against Ansar Dine.

“We got out of the city aboard our BM21, BRDM and several dozen 4×4 Toyota, in the direction of Gao. The next day, March 31, the day of the fall of Gao, we were 150 km south of Kidal, when several dozen cars of the MNLA fighters, commanded by the same Colonel Assalat Ag Habi, surrounded us. He told Ag Gamou that to circulate freely on the territory of Azawad, he had to officially allegiance to the MNLA and disarm his soldiers from the South. This is how the idea of ​​calling RFI came ^{[ first ]} . »

On March 31, Colonel Alhaji Ag Gamou thus declared to Radio France Internationale that he joined the MNLA ^{[ ten ] , [ 11 ]} . However, it is a maneuver aimed at falling back except with its troops ^{[ twelfth ]} .

Colonel Ag Khabi asks that the 204 soldiers from southern Mali be delivered to him as prisoners of war but Ag Gamou refuses. He then worn with his men towards Niger, 100 kilometers from the border, he calls the Consul of Mali in Niger by satellite phone to ask him to prepare the arrival of his South Malian men so that they can be repatriated Towards Bamako, via Burkina Faso ^{[ first ]} . Subsequently, Gamou fell back in Niger himself with his family and his Tuareg militia, he then made the Malian government known that his allegiance to the MNLA on RFI was a maneuver aimed at fleeing and that he is ready to resume the fight ^{[ first ]} .

In Kidal, the National Guard camp is looted and partly burned down, officers are also bagged by residents. According to local testimonies, prisoners are however well treated and Iyad Ag Ghaly gives instructions so that civilians are not brutalized ^{[ 5 ]} .

In a video published on July 11 by Ansar Dine, the Islamist movement claims to have taken prisoner 560 Malian soldiers during the battles of Aguel’Hoc, Tessalit and Kidal. They were released after having “Given their words to never fight Sharia law of Islam again ^{[ 13 ]} . » This number is perhaps exaggerated, but on April 14, 2012, the Islamists of Ansar Dine released 169 Malian military prisoners, as well as 14 civilians belonging to families of soldiers ^{[ 14 ] , [ 15 ] , [ 16 ]} .