When Malian rebels and Islamist militants took control of Timbuktu last year, they targeted Sufi shrines and cultural heritage sites they viewed as idolatrous. They also aimed to destroy medieval manuscripts that they consider heretical and secular.

Most of Timbuktu’s manuscripts at the Ahmed Baba Institute and other archives were saved by intrepid Malians who took enormous risks to protect their historical heritage.

Photo credit: Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post

A new report in the Washington Post details one of the remarkable stories of saving manuscripts in Timbuktu.