2017 Indelimane ambush

The ambush occurred at 5am at a MINUSMA camp in the village of Indelimane, Ménaka Cercle.^[3] The attack was marked by a rain of rockets that hit the peacekeepers and Malian troops, which was followed up by a frontal attack by the jihadists.^[4] MINUSMA reported that several attackers were killed, and the ambush was repulsed.^[5] The peacekeepers then sent out in pursuit of the attackers.^[6]

Three MINUSMA peacekeepers were killed in the ambush, along with sixteen others injured and one civilian employee injured.^[3] The Malian government stated one Malian soldier was killed and one injured.^[3] A Nigerien contingent of peacekeepers were on patrol at the time of the attack.^[7]

JNIM claimed responsibility for the attack on November 25, and released a statement claiming five Nigerien soldiers were killed along with two JNIM fighters.^[8][9] Interviews with witnesses to the attack reported that fighters from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara participated in the ambush, in the first confirmed collaboration between the two groups.^[10]

In early 2018, GATIA and the MSA, alongside French troops, fought several skirmishes against JNIM and the Islamic State in the vicinity of Indelimane.