Battle of Aguelhok

Part of the Tuareg rebellion (2012) and Northern Mali conflict

Date	17–25 January 2012 (1 week and 1 day)
Location	Aguelhok, Northern Mali
Result	Massacre of Malian army garrison

Belligerents

Mali

Malian Army 1st Military Region "Camel Corps"

MNLA

AQIM

Ansar Dine

Commanders and leaders

Captain Sékou Traoré †

Colonel Iga Ag Moussa
Iyad Ag Ghaly

Strength

153–200 soldiers

unclear

Casualties and losses

128–160 soldiers killed
(82–97 executed)

dozens killed, 40 vehicles destroyed (Army claim)

Mali

The Battle of Aguelhok (also called the Aguelhok Massacre) occurred when rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and Islamists groups Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb attacked a Malian army garrison base in the town of Aguelhok, Kidal Region of Northern Mali on 17 January 2012, as part of the larger Tuareg rebellion to seize all government bases in the region.

The attack was led by Colonel Moussa Ag, a Malian army deserter to the MNLA. The military base was overrun on 25 January, after the Malian army garrison ran out of ammunition and surrendered.

Malian military spokesmen Colonel Idriss Traoré later commented that 97 captured soldiers were killed. Later it became known that the 100 captured Malian soldiers were summarily executed by rebels using "al-Qaeda style" tactics. Nine soldiers spared during the massacre were later let free on a vow to never fight "Sharia Islam".

Prior to its formal investigation in Mali, the International Criminal Court stated that,

"Based on the information available, the Aguelhok incident appears grave enough to justify further action by the Court."

The Malian president Amadou Toumani Toure later commented during a conference on 15 March about the incident,

"The garrison had no more ammunition and it was impossible to transport reinforcements. The soldiers who fought valiantly were captured. When the MNLA left the scene we discovered a tragedy. Seventy of our young people were lined up on the floor. Blacks had their wrists tied behind his back. They were killed by bullets fired at close range in the head. Those who had white skin, Arabs and Tuaregs slaughtered and gutted. It is a war crime. I am surprised by the silence of international organizations on these atrocities. What does the International Criminal Court do? Nothing. A commission of inquiry was tasked to submit a dossier to the Malian justice. MNLA who claimed victory bears a heavy responsibility, but we know that the largest contingent of the group was composed primarily of people of AQIM. "

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Wikipedia