The region around Bassikounou was a part of the Tichitt culture area. Oral traditions record that the founders of the city of Dia in the Inland Niger Delta originated from there.[3]
In July 2011, the town was the site of the Battle of Bassikounou, where Mauritanian armed forced defeated the jihadist AQIM group.
Mbera refugee camp
Bassikounou and its surroundings have hosted tens of thousands of Malian refugees since the conflict there began in 2012, on top of other refugees who have lived there since the 1990s. This influx has stressed limited local resources of food, water, firewood, and grazing land.[4]
