Timbuktu and kidnapping three others. This was the first terrorist incident in Timbuktu itself. On 1 April 2012, one day after the capture of Gao, Timbuktu was captured from the Malian military by the Tuareg rebels of the MNLA and Ansar Dine. Five days later, the MNLA declared the region independent of Mali as the nation of Azawad. The declared political entity was not recognized by any regional nations or the international community and it collapsed three months later on 12 July. On 28 January 2013, French and Malian government troops began retaking Timbuktu from the Islamist rebels. The force of
Timbuktu spelling of Timbuktu has varied a great deal: from "Tenbuch" on the Catalan Atlas (1375), to traveller Antonio Malfante's "Thambet", used in a letter he wrote in 1447 and also adopted by Alvise Cadamosto in his "Voyages of Cadamosto", to Heinrich Barth's "Timbúktu" and "Timbu'ktu". French spelling often appears in international reference as "Tombouctou". As well as its spelling, Timbuktu's toponymy is still open to discussion. At least four possible origins of the name of Timbuktu have been described: The validity of these theories depends on the identity of the original founders of the city: as recently as 2000, archaeological