The MNLA, alongside jihadist fighters of Ansar Dine, attacks army garrisons across the north — including Aguelhok, where captured soldiers are massacred. The army, outgunned and under-supplied, collapses northward.
Why it mattersThe fourth Tuareg rebellion since independence, but the first with Libyan-grade weaponry and a jihadist partner riding alongside — a partnership of convenience whose breakup would define the next phase.