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.
Her son Achuthan (Maniyanpilla Raju) wants to reclaim the land forcibly taken by his uncle,as well as marry his daughter, Nandini (Menaka) with whom he was in love.
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.
In 1946, a series of mass desertions of Tuareg slaves and bonded communities began in Nioro and later in Menaka, quickly spreading along the Niger River valley.
In 2008, the Tuareg based human rights group Temedt, along with Anti-Slavery International, reported that "several thousand" members of the Tuareg Bella caste remain enslaved in the Gao Region and especially around the towns of Menaka and Ansongo.