2016-04-06

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad unilaterally declared the region of Azawad independent from Mali.

Naxalite–Maoist insurgency: Insurgents from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) ambushed a Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Dantewada district, India, killing 76 officers.

An earthquake measuring 6.3 Mw struck near L'Aquila in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, killing 308 people and leaving more than 66,000 homeless.

Mass protests began across Moldova against the results of the parliamentary election.

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani (pictured) was elected by the National Assembly as the first non-Arab president of Iraq.

Lithuanian president Rolandas Paksas became the first European head of state to be removed from office by impeachment.

The aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down in Kigali; the event became the catalyst for the Rwandan genocide.

ABBA (pictured) won the Eurovision Song Contest representing Sweden with the song "Waterloo".

Four California Highway Patrol officers were killed in a shootout following a traffic stop in Newhall, north of Los Angeles.

Second World War: The Battle of Slater's Knoll on Bougainville Island concluded with a decisive victory for the Australian Army's 7th Brigade against the Imperial Japanese Army's 6th Division.