Sokolo attack

Last updated
Sokolo attack
Part of Mali War
DateJanuary 26, 2020
Location
Sokolo, Mali
Result JNIM victory
Belligerents
Flag of Mali.svg MaliFlag of Jihad.svg Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin
Commanders and leaders
Hanoura Sangare  Unknown
Strength
80 ~100
Casualties and losses
20 killed
5 wounded
3 captured (per JNIM)
3 killed (per JNIM)
4 killed (per Mali
53 civilians killed in post-attack killings

On January 26, 2020, jihadists from the al-Qaeda linked Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) attacked a Malian military base at Sokolo, killing over 20 Malian soldiers.

Contents

Attack

At around 5 am, around a hundred JNIM fighters stormed the camp at Sokolo, which was being held by about eighty Malian soldiers. [1] [2] JNIM attacked from the north, south, and east, causing many of the stationed soldiers to flee into the town of Sokolo. [3] [4] Fighting ended around 7 am, at which point the jihadists began to destroy nearly everything in the base. [1] [2] The fighters retreated after burning the base to the ground, and around this time Malian reinforcements from Diabaly arrived. [5] [3]

Casualties and aftermath

The Malian government stated on the evening of January 26 that 20 Malian soldiers were killed and five wounded. [6] The government also claimed four jihadists were killed in the attack, although JNIM only alleges three were killed. [7] [8] In a statement, JNIM claimed to have captured 3 Malian soldiers, which could not be independently verified. [6] In the following days, it was reported that the captain at the military base, Harouna Sangare, was killed during the fighting. [9] 60 of the Malian troops, mainly those who fled, survived the attack. [10]

The UN reported that 53 civilians were killed by Malian troops in Sokolo around January 27, sparking a rise in extrajudicial killings by the Malian army. [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 Afrique, Le Point (2020-01-26). "Mali : le Centre toujours la cible des djihadistes". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  2. 1 2 "19 Killed in Attack on Mali Army Base Near Mauritania Border". VOA. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  3. 1 2 "Au Mali, les djihadistes du GSIM se rappellent au mauvais souvenir du G5 Sahel". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  4. "At Least 20 Mali Soldiers Killed in JNIM Attack on Sokolo Camp - HS Today". 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  5. "Mali: un camp de gendarmes attaqué par des hommes armés dans le centre". RFI (in French). 2020-01-26. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  6. 1 2 "JNIM targets military bases in central Mali | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  7. "MALI : Le GSIM revendique l'attaque de Sokolo qui a coûté la vie à 20 gendarmes". DAKARACTU.COM (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  8. "Mali : vingt morts dans l'attaque d'un camp de gendarmes à Sokolo". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2020-01-26. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  9. "Urgent : Le camp de la gendarmerie de sokolo (Ségou) attaqué. 20 morts (provisioire)". Maliactu. January 26, 2020. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  10. "Mali: Militants on motorbikes kill 20 troops, officials say". BBC News. 2020-01-26. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  11. "Malian army responsible for 101 extrajudicial killings at start of 2020 - UN report says". RFI. 2020-05-02. Retrieved 2023-02-09.