History of Timbuktu movements Ansar Dine and AQMI who installed sharia in the city and destroyed some of the burial chambers. In early June, a group of residents stated they had formed an armed militia to fight against the rebel occupation of the city. One member, a former army officer, stated that the proclaimer 'Patriots' Resistance Movement for the Liberation of Timbuktu' opposed the secession of northern Mali. On 28 January 2013, French and Malian soldiers reclaimed Timbuktu with little or no resistance and reinstalled Malian governmental authorities. Five days later, French President François Hollande accompanied by his Malian counterpart Dioncounda Traoré visited
Pashalik of Timbuktu Pashalik of Timbuktu The Pashalik of Timbuktu was a West African political entity that existed between the 16th and the 19th century. By the end of the 16th century, Moroccan sultans were strengthened after the completion of the reunification of Morocco and the victory over the Portuguese at the Battle of the Three Kings, but their financial needs lead them to extend their realm southward to Saharan gold mines and Songhay territories. In 1577, a Moroccan expedition occupied Taghaza. In 1582, a first expedition to Timbuktu was defeated. In 1591, a Moroccan expeditionary force defeated the Songhay army at Tondibi