Battle of Araouane (2009)

On July 3, 2009, American intelligence alerted Malian officials to a drug trafficking convoy in rural northern Tombouctou Region. Hamma Ould Mohamed Yahya, the Malian deputy commander in Tombouctou Region, organized a patrol of seventy men on twelve pick-ups to intersect the convoy. The trafficker's vehicle was spotted by the Malian forces, but managed to escape, although Malian forces killed a machine gunner. Between 3 and 4 a.m. the following night, around forty AQIM jihadists ambushed the Malian soldiers.^[3]

The Malian government did not release any information about the ambush, only announcing "very deadly skirmishes" and that "losses were recorded on both sides."^[4][5] Survivors of the battle stated that "of the twelve army vehicles, six were destroyed with their occupants, and the other six were scattered in the desert. We don't yet know who is alive and who is dead."^[6] Jeune Afrique reported that the ambush was conducted by AQIM and affiliated drug traffickers. Sixteen Malian soldiers were killed and twenty were taken prisoner, including Yahya. Between one and twenty jihadists were killed as well.^[3]

AQIM claimed responsibility for the ambush on July 8, and claimed the deaths of twenty-eight Malian soldiers and capture of three others. AQIM also claimed one Mauritanian within their ranks was killed.^[7] Yahya was released in March 2012.^[5]