2005 El Mreiti base attack

2005 El Mreiti base attack
Part of Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
2005 El Mreiti base attack (Mauritania) General location of the attack
Location	El Mreiti, Tiris Zemmour Region, Mauritania
Date	4 June 2005
Target	Mauritanian Army
Attack type	Terrorist attack
Deaths	18[1]
Injured	20
Perpetrators	Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC)

The 2005 El Mreiti base attack occurred on 4 June 2005 when militants from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, a predecessor group of AQIM, attacked a remote army garrison in eastern Mauritania, killing eighteen government troops and capturing a significant number of weapons.[2][3]

According to a statement released by militants, the attackers surrounded the base and engaged in a battle that lasted several hours, eventually breaching the military base, seizing large quantities of weapons and ammunition, and fleeing. The same statement claimed that fifty Mauritanian troops had been killed in the assault. Five GSPC militants, all Algerian nationals, were killed during the battle.[4] The attack was led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian jihadist and veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War.[5]

It was one of the first al-Qaeda linked operations to occur on Mauritanian soil and spurred the government of Mauritania to ally with Algeria and Mali in a bid to root out militants in the region.[6]

See also

• 2005 Mauritanian coup d'etat
• 2007 killing of French tourists in Mauritania
• 2009 Nouakchott suicide bombing
• History of Mauritania (1991–present)

References

1. "Incident Summary for GTDID: 200506050002". START Global Terrorism Database. 5 June 2005. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
2. "Moktar Belmoktar: A Primer on the al-Qaeda Leader in the Sahara". SITE Intel Group. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
3. "RFI - Mauritanie - Attaque sanglante contre une base de l'armée". www1.rfi.fr. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
4. "Mauritanie : 20 morts lors d'une attaque contre l'armée" (in French). 6 June 2005. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
5. Boudali, Lianne Kennedy (April 2007). "The North Africa Project - The GSPC: Newest Franchise in al-Qa'ida's Global Jihad" (PDF). The Combating Terrorism Center United States Military Academy.
6. Pike, John (18 February 2018). "Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) / Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC)". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 18 February 2018.

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