March 2015 Kidal attack

Part of Northern Mali conflict
Location| Mali
Date| 8 March 2015 (2015-03-08)
Deaths| 3
Injured| 14

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2014

* Kondaoui
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* 2nd Kidal
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* N'Tillit
* 2nd Tabankort

2015

* 1st Nampala
* Ténenkou
* 3rd Tabankort
* Tabrichat
* Bamako restaurant
* 4th Kidal attack
* 1st Léré
* Tin Telout
* Nara
* Takoumbaout
* Sama Forest
* 1st Gourma-Rharous
* Sévaré hotel
* 4th Anéfis
* Tiébanda
* Bamako hotel
* 5th Kidal attack
* 1st Talahandak

2016

* Wanna
* 3rd Aguelhok
* Sévaré
* 2nd Nampala
* 3rd Kidal
* Touzik
* Adjlal
* 2nd Goumakoura
* Kazay-Kazay

2017

* 6th Gao
* 1st Boulikessi
* 2nd Gourma-Rharous
* Foulsaré Forest
* 1st Dogofry
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* Bintagoungou
* Kangaba
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* 2nd Djebok
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* 4th Timbuktu
* Tin Biden
* 3rd Indelimane

2018

* 4th In-Delimane
* Youwarou
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* 2nd Araouane
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* 5th Timbuktu
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* Farimake
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* Abanguilou

2019

* Koulogon
* 2nd Serma Forest
* Taghatert and West Inekar
* 4th Aguelhok
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* 1st Dioura
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* 2nd Boulikessi
* 5th In-Delimane
* 4th Tabankort
* 3rd Ménaka
* 1st Wagadou Forest

2020

* Dioungani
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* Bouka Weré
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* 3rd Boulikessi
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2021

* Wedding airstrike
* Boulikessi and Mondoro
* 2nd Boni
* 2nd Tessit
* 5th Aguelhok
* Coup
* 2nd Tarkint
* Karou and Ouatagouna
* Dangarous Forest
* Nokara
* Bodio
* Mopti

2022

* Archam
* Danguèrè Wotoro
* Mondoro
* Ménaka
* 2nd Andéramboukane
* 3rd Tessit
* 2nd Talataye
* Tadjalalt and Haroum
* Moura
* Hombori
* Mopti Region
* Diallassagou
* Bandiagara

2023

* Markacoungo
* Diafarabé and Koumara
* Kani Bonzon
* 5th Timbuktu
* 3rd Ber
* Tombouctou and Bamba
* Bourem
* 2nd Léré
* 2nd Dioura
* 2nd Bamba
* Kidal Region
* 4th Kidal
* 2nd Niafunké
* Labbezanga
* 2nd Farabougou

2024

* Kwala
* Douna
* 2nd Wagadou Forest
* Mourdiah
* Abeïbara
* Djiguibombo
* 2nd Tinzaouaten
* Bamako

More than 30 rockets and shells struck a MINUSMA base in Kidal, northern Mali, early on 8 March 2015. One United Nations peacekeeper from Chad was killed, as were two Malian children killed when a shell fell on a nearby camp of Tuareg and Arab nomads, according to the UN.[1] Eleven more peacekeepers and three more civilians were reportedly injured.[2] The rockets and shells were apparently launched from both the north and the south of the base.[3] It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, but Islamist militants active in the area[4] or Tuareg separatists[5] were suspected.

## Background

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Main article: Northern Mali conflict

Kidal, where the attack took place, is considered the "cradle" of the Tuareg separatist movement, which seeks to carve out an ethnic homeland called Azawad in northern Mali.[5] Separatists briefly seized control of major cities in the region and declared Azawadi independence in 2012, but their Islamist allies turned on them and evicted them from their strongholds. Months later, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad agreed to support Malian territorial unity and renounce the independence of Azawad, although the relationship between Tuareg fighters in the north and the Malian military remained tenuous.[6] France, the former colonial power in Mali, intervened in 2013 to drive out Islamist fighters. The United Nations began taking over peacekeeping duties from French troops in northern Mali later that year, forming MINUSMA as its mission in the West African country.[4]

The day before the rocket attack in Kidal, a gunman opened fire in a bar in Bamako, Mali's capital. The attack killed five, including a Belgian security official working for the European Union. The Islamist group Al-Murabitoun claimed responsibility for the attack, the first of its kind in the southern Malian city.[4][7]

## Reactions

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The United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack as "intolerable" and said it violated international law.[2] A UN spokeswoman called the shelling "a terrorist attack of a very complex nature".[3]

## References

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1. ^ "At least three killed in north Mali rocket attack: U.N". Reuters. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
2. ^ a b "Attack in northeastern Mali that killed UN peacekeeper strongly condemned by Ban, Council". United Nations News Centre. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
3. ^ a b "UN peacekeeper killed in attack in Mali's Kidal". Al Jazeera. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
4. ^ a b c "Rocket attack hits Kidal UN base in northern Mali". BBC News. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
5. ^ a b "Attack on UN Mali barracks kills soldier and two civilians". The Guardian. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
6. ^ Jackson, Paul (23 November 2015). "Explainer: What is going on in Mali?". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
7. ^ "Mali bar attack kills five in Bamako". BBC News. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.

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