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.
Attack
At around 5 am, around a hundred JNIM fighters stormed the camp at Sokolo, which was being held by about eighty Malian soldiers. JNIM attacked from the north, south, and east, causing many of the stationed soldiers to flee into the town of Sokolo. Fighting ended around 7 am, at which point the jihadists began to destroy nearly everything in the base. The fighters retreated after burning the base to the ground, and around this time Malian reinforcements from Diabaly arrived.
Casualties and aftermath
The Malian government stated on the evening of January 26 that 20 Malian soldiers were killed and five wounded. The government also claimed four jihadists were killed in the attack, although JNIM only alleges three were killed. In a statement, JNIM claimed to have captured 3 Malian soldiers, which could not be independently verified. In the following days, it was reported that the captain at the military base, Harouna Sangare, was killed during the fighting. 60 of the Malian troops, mainly those who fled, survived the attack.
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.
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