Sokolo attack
Part of Mali War
Date January 26, 2020 Location Sokolo, Mali Result JNIM victory
Belligerents
Mali	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.

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]

References