Locating Tin Adema, Mali

[Hitch]

Hi folks,

Can any assist? I'm trying to locate Tin Adema in northern Mali. I believe its in the general area of Adrar des Ifoghas and should be 180km West South West from Tessalit. Thats in the Tematrine district I think.

So far I cannot locate it on a map. Can anyone assist please?

Thanks

[Chris Scott]

I had a look at my 200k IGNs - the red dot ones as indicated below (Timetrine in the blank one; Tessalit town is blue).
Could not find Tin Adema, though that sounds a plausible name in Tuareg territory.

Are you sure it is SW of Tessalit, as that would put it out of the Ifoghas which is more east of the piste.

I see a Wikileaks cable mentions 'WSW', but that would still put it on the Timetrine map which the cable also mentions (AQIM held hostages and had a base at Timetrine, afaik).
Closest I could find there was 'In Damane' well, about 50-60km NW of Timetrine at 19° 54', 00° 40' W. Is that a faint structure there? It is 180km WSW of Tessalit, as the cable says. See map below.

The other mention is on the website of FIAA (Islamic Front of the Azawad Army - i.e.: Tuareg rebel faction) which says: Le FIAA est basé au nord du Mali, où cohabitent de nombreuses communautés Arabes et Maures. Les combattants sont recrutés autour de la ville de Tin Adema, sur la frontière avec l´Algérie.

Found Tin Didine here (looks a bit less bleak on the old Tagnout Chagguert IGN) which happens to be 180km NW of Tessalit. But Didine/Adema, not so sure. I think it's more likely In Damane.

Ch

[Hitch]

Thanks very much for all the effort. I am basing directions from the Wikileaks cable indeed, which may be faulty who knows? Its definitely AQIM territory and a location where I understand that the French attacked in early 2013.

Maybe worth looking along the Algerian border based on your new info. I'm looking for this location based on an Arabic reference:

تنادمة

Google translates this as Tndema but it should be in the Ifoghas I believe. Grateful for any additional support!

[Chris Scott]

I think the fact that the Tin Adema wikicable also mentions the better-known Timertrine does suggest the '180km WSW' info is in that area.

Also, the 200k IGN maps are a good 60 years old and what the French cartographers on the ground back then understood from a prune-faced old guide's pronunciation of a place may not correlate with current usage by locals who tend to chop vowels to the core (a bit like your Google Arabic translation), e.g.: 'Tmarast' = Tamanrasset.

And - what is regarded locally as 'sur la frontière avec l´Algérie' may be a broad area indeed. Not a few miles as we perceive but perhaps more a region.

Then again, other sources repeat that Tin Adema was an FIAA base or HQ that was attacked in the mid 90s (… on January 25, 1995. On the same day, government troops captured the headquarters of FIAA in the town of Tin-Adema...), and as these were Tuareg rebels you would assume that would be a village deep in the Ifoghas, east of the piste and in the vicinity of Kidal, not an obscure well (another is 'Tin Idnane', NW of Timbuktu). The maps shows many, many Tins in the Ifoghas. I have always assumed that one reason AQIM chose Timertrine as a base was that it was outside the sphere of Tuareg influence around Kidal.

Ch

[Hitch]

Likewise. I'm a total novice to N. Mali cartography but had assumed that if as per the Wikileaks cable it was a Malian army operating base - even a minor/temporary one - it would be a more significant location on the map rather than a small well. Are there any alternative maps of the area with the same or closer scale but more recent than 1960?

[Chris Scott]

Are there any alternative maps of the area with the same or closer scale but more recent than 1960?

Not that I know of. Mapping the way IGN did it was a one off and I suspect all that followed - American TPC (500k), Soviet (500k) copied them but not below 200k. Mapping like that, naming every locality and feature, soak and creek, is no more – too expensive.

Ch

[Hitch]

Research old news pieces from June 2009 about the Malian armies action against AQIM, there are references to Garn-Akassa - could that be close to Tin-Adema? Another place which I cannot immediately locate.

[Hitch]

Just sent you a PM

[Toyark]

Have you looked at the topo digital Russian military maps?

[Hitch]

Not aware of that resource - do you have a link?

[Toyark]

It is an android app- the maps are around 30 years old but sill some of the best available.
just added screen shot- so that you get an idea
and yes, it's orange. Cyrillic is good for you- it exercises the brain cells!
These may not be what you want but you asked for alternatives Hitch.

[Chris Scott]

the topo digital Russian military maps

Same as the Soviets already mentioned - all based on IGN in Mali + aerial/sat, so place names will be no better (and printed in Cyrillic). All orange, hard to use.
Better than nothing in non-Francophone east Sahara (or the rest of Africa/the world, for that matter) which wasn't covered in 200k detail by IGN.
Used to come with Quo Vadis or TTQV and became popular in Sahara when Libya and Gilf opened up, due to lack of alternatives and convenient ambiguity over post-Soviet ©. That's probably why they're on an app.

Long version here: Maps of the Sahara | Sahara Overland

Ch

[Hitch]

Further to my original post, I understand that Tin Adema may be spelled as Tinadema too, placing it in the Northeastern part of Timbuktu region. It should be in proximity to Hassi Dina which I also cannot locate.

Can anyone be of assistance still? Thanks in advance!

[Hitch]

Hassi Dina should be 17°22'00.0"N 2°58'00.0"W, but I'm no expert with Long/Lat if anyone can find that on thr 1:200,000 maps?

[priffe]

You can just google the coordinates into google maps and get a position
around 70 kms straight north of TB2

https://www.google.se/maps/place/17%...'00.0%22W/