Timbuktu's famed manuscripts escaped al-Qaida but the threat remains

TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) — Thirteen years ago, Abdoulaye Cissé risked his life to smuggle tens of thousands of fragile manuscripts out of Timbuktu as al-Qaida -linked extremists swept into the desert town.

At night, he loaded crates of manuscripts from the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research onto donkey carts, aware that their pages carried evidence of his people’s glorious past. They were taken to the river, where wooden boats and then buses took them to Mali’s capital, Bamako — a 1,200-kilometer (750-mile) journey.

“It was dark, but we knew the route by heart,” said Cissé, the institute’s general secretary.

Moving the manuscripts took a month. The institute’s staff knew they risked their lives.

The 28,000 manuscripts returned safely to Timbuktu in August after a request from local leaders and civil society. It reflected both the city’s pride in cultural preservation and concerns about the potentially damaging humidity in Bamako. Mali’s government has portrayed it as a victory.

But al-Qaida remains a threat. Its fighters attacked Timbuktu as recently as June, and affiliated fighters with the JNIM group have imposed a fuel blockade on landlocked Mali, threatening to bring down the military regime.

Beyond the institute, which is owned by the government, Timbuktu is home to private libraries holding an estimated 377,000 manuscripts in total. All were smuggled to the capital, where they remain.

“What we find in these documents does not exist anywhere else in the world,” said Mohamed Diagayeté, director of the institute, who specializes in old manuscripts.

The trove contradicts assumptions that African history has been primarily oral. The manuscripts are an archive of dealings among West African empires and tribes, with histories dating back centuries.

A world comes to life on their pages. Letters between scholars and emirs debate whether tobacco was sin or solace, and outline demands by officials to shrink women’s dowries so poor men might marry.

Scribbled notes in the margins detail events that shaped history, like earthquakes that shook the region in the 15th century.

Timbuktu was once a center of Islamic learning, with scholars also coming to study mathematics, science, astrology and governance.

The manuscripts offer evidence that Islam in the region was long marked by tolerance and respect. One manuscript in a private library records a local decree warning men not to impose themselves on women, and granting women the right to seek justice if they do.

The brutality of al-Qaida’s arrival in 2012 was a shock. The militants destroyed more than 4,000 manuscripts, some dating back to the 13th century, according to the findings of a United Nations expert mission. They also destroyed the mausoleums of Timbuktu, which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and the city’s “sacred gate.”

Al-Qaida’s rampage was a wake-up call for protecting Timbuktu’s treasures.

Before the manuscripts were smuggled out of the city, only 20% of the institute’s manuscripts had been digitized, Cissé said. Now nearly all are digitized, and the archives are backed up on servers based elsewhere.

“Even if one server is damaged, we can still recover these manuscripts,” he said.

Archivists and librarians say challenges remain.

The manuscripts are still stored in aging mud-brick libraries, though staffers of the institute say their holdings are now in “a secure place.” They plan to install surveillance cameras inside.

Timbuktu’s history-loving residents try to balance protection with accessibility.

“As long as these manuscripts remain in trunks, they remain dead because people cannot enjoy them,” said Sane Chirfi Alpha, a founding member of a local nonprofit, SAVAMA-DCI, for their preservation.

For students like 24-year-old Baylaly Mahamane, the manuscripts offer fresh insights from traditional practices. One text describes doctors crushing white wormwood leaves to soothe the stomach, blending millet with mutton to stop vomiting, and packing swollen feet with clay and henna.

“I want to study the Timbuktu manuscripts on herbal medicine so that I can help doctors in Timbuktu hospitals treat patients who cannot obtain medication at home,” Mahamane said.

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An employee of the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research displays manuscripts at the exhibition hall in Timbuktu, Mali, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)

An employee displays a manuscript at the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research in Timbuktu, Mali, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)

Abdoulaye Cissé, Left, an employee of the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research, inspects crates containing manuscripts in Timbuktu, Mali, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)

Manuscript pages are being scan at the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research in Timbuktu, Mali, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)

An employee of the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research displays manuscripts at the exhibition hall in Timbuktu, Mali, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)

BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 8, 2025--

Bruker Corporation (Nasdaq: BRKR) today announced that its Board of Directors has added Jack J. Phillips to serve on its board of directors, effective as of January 1 st, 2026. Mr. Phillips is a senior healthcare industry executive with over 30 years of leadership experience in the diagnostics industry.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251208901297/en/

Frank H. Laukien, chairman, president and CEO of Bruker Corporation, stated: “Bruker is delighted to add Jack to our board of directors. His broad and deep diagnostics experience, strategic acumen and market development experience will be very valuable to Bruker and our board. I admire Jack’s proven ability to translate scientific innovations into clinical impact for patient benefit and to accelerate profitable business growth in diagnostics. Jack’s addition to our board is timely, as we broaden our infectious disease diagnostics portfolio, and increasingly leverage our unique disease biology research tools for opportunities in specialty diagnostics.”

Jack Phillips served as President & CEO of Accelerate Diagnostics from 2020-2025, pioneering rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) technology for hospitals and infectious disease doctors combatting serious bacterial infections, life-threatening sepsis and antibiotic resistance.

Previously, Jack was President & CEO of Roche Diagnostics North America from 2010-2020, where he led the portfolio across clinical chemistry, immunodiagnostics, as well as molecular, tissue and point-of-care diagnostics, and digital pathology, all further strengthening Roche’s leadership position in the global in vitro diagnostics (IVD) industry.

From 1999-2010, Jack was Senior VP and General Manager, North America, for Ventana Medical Systems, helping establish tissue and companion diagnostics as standards of care. His career has centered on advancing innovation to clinical translation for patient benefit and business impact through strategy, market development and operational excellence. Jack serves on the Board of Trustees of Tucson Medical Center, and he previously was a board member of AdvaMedDx. He holds a B.S. in Marketing from Northern Kentucky University.

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Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this press release which do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated, including, but not limited to, those risk factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in our filings with the SEC, including, without limitation, our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, as may be updated by our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We expressly disclaim any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements other than as required by law.

Jack Phillips