On 27 June , Islamists from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa ( MOJWA ) clashed Hostile_encounter with the MNLA in the Battle of Gao , wounding Bodily_harm MNLA secretary-general Bilal Ag Acherif and taking Creating control of the city .

By 17 July , MOJWA and Ansar Dine had pushed Self_motion the MNLA out of all the major cities .