Battle of Gao

Battle of Gao
	Part of the Malian Civil War
	Gao Battle of Gao (Mali); Above: Jihadists during fighting in the streets of Gao.
Date	26–28 June 2012
Location	Gao
Result	Decisive Islamist victory Effective end of the self-proclaimed State of Azawad; Ansar Dine and MOJWA take over the largest cities of Azawad and the headquarters of the MNLA; Timbuktu World Heritage Site destroyed by Islamists;
Belligerents
Azawad MNLA;	Islamists MOJWA; AQIM; Ansar Dine; Boko Haram;
Commanders and leaders
Bilal Ag Acherif (WIA); Colonel Bouna Ag Tahib †; Machkanani Ag Balla; Colonel Wari Ag Ibrahim †	Mokhtar Belmokhtar; Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi; Abdelhamid Abou Zeid
Strength
140–2,000	500+
Casualties and losses
4 killed; 10 wounded; 40 captured	36 killed; 14 wounded
	35 killed overall, including 3 Niger fighters, and 41 wounded

The Battle of Gao was fought between the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and the Islamist Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), along with its ally Ansar Dine, in Gao between 26–28 June 2012. By the 28 June, Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal, the three biggest cities in the disputed secessionist region of Azawad within what is recognised as Malian territory, were under the control of Ansar Dine and its Islamist allies.

Two days later, parts of the World Heritage Site of Timbuktu had started to be destroyed, amid condemnation by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mali and France. This was followed by criticism within the region and internationally with Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suggesting it could send an armed intervention force into the country and the International Criminal Court (ICC) following Mali's lead in terming the acts as "war crimes." While MNLA also criticised the Islamists for holding civilians and destroying the structures, Ansar Dine said that the destruction was due to violation of sharia (their Najdi interpretation) and in reaction to UNESCO's labeling of the sites of Timbuktu and in Gao as "in danger."

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