History of Timbuktu city in 1468. A Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 1591, and made Timbuktu, rather than Gao, their capital. The invaders established a new ruling class, the Arma, who after 1612 became virtually independent of Morocco. However, the golden age of the city was over, during which it was a major learning and cultural center of the Mali empire, and it entered a long period of decline. Different tribes governed until the French took over in 1893, a situation that lasted until it became part of the current Republic of Mali in 1960. Presently, Timbuktu is impoverished and suffers from
Second Battle of Timbuktu killed when he went in, thinking the jihadists had already fled the city. It is believed after that a French aircraft then bombarded that house, killing the occupants in the air raid. A spokesman for the Malian army in Timbuktu said there were still rebel movements behind the military camp in the town center and in the alleyways by the 14th century Dinjareyber mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. By Monday afternoon, according to the French ministry of defense, jihadists fled Timbuktu to the northeast direction after Mirage and Rafale jets flew over the city to hunt down the fighters.