Ménaka
{{about|the town in Mali|the Hindu Apsara|Menaka|other uses|Menaka (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Ménaka
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| settlement_type = Commune and town
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| image_skyline = Menaka.jpg
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| pushpin_label_position = left
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| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|Mali}}
| subdivision_type1 = Region
| subdivision_name1 = Ménaka
| subdivision_type2 = Cercle
| subdivision_name2 = Ménaka
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| population_as_of = 2009 Census
| population_footnotes = {{citation | url=http://instat.gov.ml/documentation/gao.pdf
| publisher=République de Mali: Institut National de la Statistique| title=Resultats Provisoires RGPH 2009 (Région de Gao) | language=French }}.
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| population_total = 20702
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| utc_offset_DST = 0
| coordinates = {{coord|15|55|00|N|2|24|00|E|region:ML_type:city|display=inline,title}}
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Ménaka (Berber: ⵎⵏⴾⴰ) is a town and urban commune in Ménaka Cercle and Ménaka Region in eastern Mali. It is the seat and the largest town in the cercle and region. The town is set amidst the rocky outcrops of the Ader Douchi hills, and is served by Ménaka Airport. As of September of 2024, the town has been taken under control by the Malian government and the Plateforme, however they are under siege by the ISSP.
Tuareg rebellions
The Ménaka area was a center of Ag El Insar Firhoun's Malian rising of larger 1916 Tuareg Rebellion, and was a government garrison town in the 1961–1964, 1990–1995, and the 2007–2009 Tuareg Rebellions. Most recently, Ménaka was put under siege and the military post sacked by former rebels who had been integrated into the Malian Army in a short term rising in May–July 2006. The current May 23, 2006 Democratic Alliance for Change rebel group dates from this siege.[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=59096 MALI: Armed men seize three military bases in remote north]. 23 May 2006 (IRIN).
On 17 January 2012, Ménaka was captured by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a Tuareg rebel group.{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/node/21550324 |publisher=The Economist |date=17 March 2012 |title=Strife in the Sahel: A perfect desert storm}} On 19 November they lost their control to the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
2009 kidnappings
On 25 November 2009, a French citizen named Pierre Camatte was taken hostage from a hotel in Ménaka city. A January 2010 statement issued by the AQIM, the north African branch of al-Qaeda, set an ultimatum of 20 days for the exchange of four al-Qaeda members for Pierre Camatte, after which, it said the French and Malian governments "will be fully responsible for the French hostage's life".[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8452500.stm Frenchman Pierre Camatte kidnapped in Mali]. 11 January 2010. BBC News. Camatte was freed 6 weeks later following a prisoner swap deal in which the four Islamists were released.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8537262.stm |title=Freed French hostage speaks of al-Qaeda ordeal in Mali |publisher=BBC |date=25 February 2010}}
Slavery
{{Main|Human rights in Mali}}
Malian and international Human Rights organisations pointed to Ménaka in 2008, as one of several towns in the Gao Region in which informal slavery relations persist between noble caste Tuareg pastoralists and thousands of sedentary low caste Bellah Tuareg.[http://allafrica.com/stories/200807150572.html Mali: Thousands Still Live in Slavery in North]. IRIN (United Nations). 14 July 2008.
Climate
{{Weather box
| width = auto
| metric first = yes
| single line = yes
| location = Menaka (1961–1990)
| Jan high C = 31.0
| Feb high C = 34.1
| Mar high C = 37.7
| Apr high C = 41.1
| May high C = 42.4
| Jun high C = 41.0
| Jul high C = 38.0
| Aug high C = 36.2
| Sep high C = 38.2
| Oct high C = 39.0
| Nov high C = 35.6
| Dec high C = 31.8
| year high C = 37.2
| Jan low C = 15.2
| Feb low C = 17.5
| Mar low C = 21.1
| Apr low C = 25.1
| May low C = 28.2
| Jun low C = 28.3
| Jul low C = 26.3
| Aug low C = 25.0
| Sep low C = 25.4
| Oct low C = 24.1
| Nov low C = 19.7
| Dec low C = 16.0
| year low C = 22.6
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 0.0
| Feb precipitation mm = 0.0
| Mar precipitation mm = 0.1
| Apr precipitation mm = 1.7
| May precipitation mm = 6.8
| Jun precipitation mm = 23.5
| Jul precipitation mm = 68.2
| Aug precipitation mm = 83.9
| Sep precipitation mm = 28.8
| Oct precipitation mm = 4.9
| Nov precipitation mm = 0.1
| Dec precipitation mm = 0.1
| year precipitation mm = 218.1
| Jan rain days = 0.0
| Feb rain days = 0.0
| Mar rain days = 0.2
| Apr rain days = 0.3
| May rain days = 1.5
| Jun rain days = 4.1
| Jul rain days = 7.2
| Aug rain days = 8.8
| Sep rain days = 5.2
| Oct rain days = 0.9
| Nov rain days = 0.1
| Dec rain days = 0.1
| year rain days =
| Jan sun = 263.7
| Feb sun = 237.8
| Mar sun = 212.3
| Apr sun = 227.9
| May sun = 242.1
| Jun sun = 176.8
| Jul sun = 231.5
| Aug sun = 222.1
| Sep sun = 234.0
| Oct sun = 272.9
| Nov sun = 280.1
| Dec sun = 262.5
| year sun =
| source 1 = NOAA{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/RA-I/M1/61250.TXT
|title = Station Name: MENAKA
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|format = TXT
|access-date = 22 August 2024}}
}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{citation | title=Plan de Sécurite Alimentaire Commune de Ménaka 2005-2009 | publisher=Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire, République du Mali, USAID-Mali | year=2005 | url=http://www.csa-mali.org/plans/gao/Menaka/P_S_A_Menaka_vf.pdf | language=French | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122091142/http://www.csa-mali.org/plans/gao/Menaka/P_S_A_Menaka_vf.pdf | archivedate=2008-11-22 }}.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menaka}}
Category:Regional capitals in Mali