One of their vehicles escaped the attack, and one which was seized was later found abandoned across the border near Bani-Bangou, Niger.
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On 1 June, an Al-Qaeda website claimed that the Briton, Edwin Dyer, had been killed following demands for the release of the radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada from a British jail.
On 22 January, four foreign tourists were reported kidnapped in Mali, north of Bani-Bangou, while traveling by auto from a festival at Anderamboukané to the Malian town of Ménaka, and on to Gao.
As rebels made their gains farther north, notably capturing the towns of Léré, Andéramboukane, and Ménaka without resistance, the Malian army made a series of tactical retreats planning to reorganize and defend Niafunké, which holds a key location between the government controlled areas of the Timbuktu Region and the more rebel presences' areas of the east.