Battle of Abanguilou

The battle of Abanguilou took place on December 19, 2018, between the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA) and their French allies against the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).

Prelude
On December 19, 2018, a nomadic camp in the village of Abanguilou, near Andéramboukane, was attacked by armed men, allegedly ISGS militants. The attackers executed six civilians, and looted the camp.

Battle
Following the attack on the nomadic camp, Tuareg fighters in the MSA set off in pursuit of the ISGS militants, who were fleeing towards the border with Niger. The MSA fighters caught up, and clashes broke out between the two groups.

That same day, a French MQ-9 drone flying above Niger spotted a group of men on eight motorcycles heading back towards the border with Mali. Once the group crossed the border, and was assessed by French officials as being the perpetrators of the Abanguilou killings, the militants were killed by a French airstrike. French ground forces were then deployed. The ground forces, when assessing the damage, discovered a Glock-19 pistol that belonged to Jeremiah W. Johnson, an American soldier killed in the Tongo Tongo ambush a year prior.

Aftermath
The MSA stated in a press release that three fighters were killed in the clashes, and two were wounded. The group also stated a dozen ISGS fighters were killed. The French army stated six jihadists were killed and five motorcycles were destroyed.