Gossi

Gossi
Commune and small town
Gossi is located in Mali
Gossi
Gossi
Location in Mali
Coordinates: 15°49′36″N 1°18′41″W / 15.82667°N 1.31139°W / 15.82667; -1.31139
Country Mali
RegionTombouctou Region
CercleGourma-Rharous Cercle
Area
 • Total
15,000 km2 (6,000 sq mi)
Elevation
279 m (915 ft)
Population
 (2009 census)[1]
 • Total
24,521
 • Density1.6/km2 (4.2/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+0 (GMT)

Gossi is a town and rural commune in the Cercle of Gourma-Rharous of the Tombouctou Region of Mali, lying northeast of Hombori and southwest of Gao. The town is just to the west of the main RN15 highway that links Mopti with Gao. It is on a seasonal lake, Mare de Gossi, and is surrounded by nature reserves in which a large herd of elephants live. The town is the site of a large cattle market. The commune contains around 31 villages and in the 2009 census, it had a population of 24,521. Around 90% of the population are nomadic pastoralists but there are permanent settlements around Lake Gossi, Lake Ebanguemalène and Lake Agoufou.[2][3]

The French Military ceded its control of a base in Gossi to the Malian Army in April 2022.[4]

Incidents

In May of 2013 the bodies of two Tuareg men were found just outside of Gossi. Just hours earlier they were stripped naked and trampled on by soldiers, only to be released at the request of a soldier who was a relative. The Minister of Defence attributed the killings to the Ganda Koy- a militia that works with the support of local authorities.[5]

On 24 July 2014, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft flying Air Algérie Flight 5017 crashed southeast of Gossi with 116 people on board. The flight had left Ouagadougou and was headed to Algiers. Initial reports suggested a sandstorm might have been to blame.[6] Gossi was also the site of the capture of Mimi Ould Baba Ould El Mokhtar, believed to be responsible for a terrorist attack in Grand-Bassam, by French military forces.[7]

In March 2022, the French military released video evidence of Russian mercenaries burying about a dozen bodies of Malians near the Gossi military base.[8]

References

  1. ^ Resultats Provisoires RGPH 2009 (Région de Tombouctou) (PDF) (in French), République de Mali: Institut National de la Statistique, archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22.
  2. ^ Plan de Sécurité Alimentaire Commune Rurale de Gossi 2006-2010 (PDF) (in French), Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire, République du Mali, USAID-Mali, 2006, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-13, retrieved 2012-05-03
  3. ^ Ag Ahmed, Mohamed Ali; Hamelin-Brabant, Louise; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre (2019-12-01). "Nomads' perceptions of quality, accessibility, and affordability of health services as determinants of using skilled birth attendants in Gossi, Mali". Midwifery. 79: 102556. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2019.102556. ISSN 0266-6138.
  4. ^ Oxford Analytica. "France will reduce its West African military footprint." Emerald Expert Briefings oxan-db (2022).
  5. ^ House, Freedom. "Mali." Last modified July 31 (2013).
  6. ^ Algeria passenger plane wreckage found in Mali, BBC News Africa, 24 July 2014
  7. ^ Jacinto, Leela (January 12, 2017). "Alleged mastermind of Ivorian resort attack arrested, says RFI". France24. Archived from the original on January 22, 2017. Mimi Ould Baba Ould El Mokhtar -- also known as Mimi Ould Baba Ould Cheikh – was arrested near the town of Gossi in northern Mali earlier this month, Ivorian security sources told FRANCE 24's sister radio station, RFI, on Thursday.
  8. ^ Engels, Bettina (2022-04-03). "Popular struggles and the search for alternative democracies". Review of African Political Economy. 49 (172): 201–208. doi:10.1080/03056244.2022.2085886. ISSN 0305-6244.


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