Fall of Timbuktu (2012) Fall of Timbuktu (2012) The Fall of Timbuktu took place during the war in northern Mali. This is one of the first clashes between the MNLA and Ansar Dine. On June 13, 2012, at approximately 10:00 am, an MNLA vehicle arrived at a station at the south-eastern entrance of Timbuktu City, on the Goundam Road. A quarrel started between the separatist fighters and Islamists who guarded the post, with the terrorists demanding that the men of the MNLA to lay down their weapons, which they refuse. Fighting the erupted. An Ansar Dine commander stated that "MNLA defeated elements wanted to
Timbuktu there was no malicious destruction of any library or collection as most of the manuscripts were safely hidden away. One librarian in particular, Abdel Kader Haidara, organized to have 350,000 medieval manuscripts smuggled out of Timbuktu for safekeeping. These libraries are the largest among up to 60 private or public libraries that are estimated to exist in Timbuktu today, although some comprise little more than a row of books on a shelf or a bookchest. Under these circumstances, the manuscripts are vulnerable to damage and theft, as well as long term climate damage, despite Timbuktu's arid climate. Two Timbuktu Manuscripts