History of Timbuktu Malian military. On 3 April 2012, the BBC News reported that the Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine had started implementing its version of "sharia" in Timbuktu. That day, ag Ghaly gave a radio interview in Timbuktu announcing that Sharia law would be enforced in the city, including the veiling of women, the stoning of adulterers, and the punitive mutilation of thieves. According to Timbuktu's mayor, the announcement caused nearly all of Timbuktu's Christian population to flee the city. The MNLA declared the independence of Azawad, containing Timbuktu, from Mali on 6 April 2012, but was rapidly pushed aside by Islamist
Timbuktu Manuscripts the University of Cape Town. In a partnership with the government of South Africa, which contributed to the Timbuktu trust fund, this project is the first official cultural project of the New Partnership for Africa's Development. It was founded in 2003 and is ongoing. They released a report on the project in 2008. As well as preserving the manuscripts, the Cape Town project also aims to make access to public and private libraries around Timbuktu more widely available. The project's online database is accessible to researchers only. In 2015 it was announced that the Timbuktu trust fund would close after