Adrar des Ifoghas

The Adrar des Ifoghas area is characterized by wide, shallow valleys and is strewn with piles of eroded granite blocks. The massif's valleys open to the Tamesna plain on the east, to the Telemsi fosse on the west, to the western basin of the Azaouak valley on the south and to the Tanezrouft on the north. Settlements of the area include Kidal, Aguel'hoc, Boghassa, Essouk and Tessalit.

The Adrar des Ifoghas is known locally as "Adagh". "Adrar" is the Berber word for mountain, while "Ifogha" is the name of an aristocratic Tuareg clan, "Kel Ifoghas", who have dominated the region for generations. Like most Tuareg, the Kel Ifoghas are nomadic, raising camels, goats and sheep for sustenance and for sale.

The area is rich in archaeological remains, particularly rock drawings which depict men hunting, farming and cattle-rearing.[1] The skeleton of Asselar man (c. 6,400 BP) was also found in the area by Wladimir Besnard and Théodore Monod.[2] The Adrar des Ifoghas has also become popular for treks.

In 2013, the rugged badlands became a refuge for Islamist fighters fleeing French intervention in the Mali civil war.[3] On 22 February, a battle was fought in Adrar des Ifoghas, killing 25 Chadians, including Abdel Aziz Hassane Adam, the leading Chadian special forces commander in Mali, and 93 Islamists. On March 12, a battle took place in the village of Tigharghar, killing one Chadian soldier and 6 Islamists. The battle resulted in the Chadians taking the village.

• Karpoff, R.; Chavaillon, N.; Alimen, H. (1963), "Nouveaux gisements paléolithiques dans l'Adrar des Iforas (Sahara)", Bulletin de la Société préhistorique de France (in French), 60 (5–6): 352–363.
• This article was begun from a translation from the corresponding French article, accessed 17 December 2005.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Adrar des Ifoghas.

• Media related to Adrar des Ifoghas at Wikimedia Commons