Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Gao / ɡ aʊ /, or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, [2] is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, 320 km (200 mi) east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an important commercial centre involved in the trans-Saharan trade.
The Gao Region is part of Mali, the northern part that was separated and declared independent by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) during the Tuareg rebellion of 2012. After the 1st Battle of Gao, the MNLA lost control to Islamist militias. Several other battles took place during the war, particularly in Gao.
The Gao Empire was a kingdom that ruled the Niger bend from approximately the 7th century CE until their fall to the Mali Empire in the late 14th century. Ruled by the Za dynasty from the capital of Gao, the empire was an important predecessor of the Songhai Empire.
Gao was mainly occupied by MUJAO, a group that had a total of 500 to 1,000 combatants, concentrated mainly in the Gao region. Fighters from Ansar Dine were also present, as well as a contingent of about one hundred men from Boko Haram and one of five katiba brigade-battalions from AQIM, katiba Al-Mouthalimin, commanded by Mokhtar Belmokhtar .
The capture of the cities of Timbuktu and Gao by these groups pushed French forces to intervene in Mali, pushing the rebels back at the city of Konna. On the same day of the Gao bombings, French forces also bombed an Ansar Dine base in Aghabo, Kidal Region .
Get the Gao, Gao local weather forecast by the hour and the next 10 days. Skip to main content. Sign in. Mail. 24/7 Help. For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to ...
Since the start of 2023, tensions had intensified between the Malian junta that took power in 2021 and the allied Wagner Group mercenaries against the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security, and Development (CSP-PSD), a coalition of the former rebel Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) and the pro-government Platform militias.
Discover the latest breaking news in the U.S. and around the world — politics, weather, entertainment, lifestyle, finance, sports and much more.