On March 19, dozens of Malian soldiers were killed at a military base in Tarkint in an attack perpetrated by the al-Qaeda linked Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).
| 2020 Tarkint attack | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mali War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Mali |
 Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Several dozen[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
29 killed 5 wounded[2] | Unknown | ||||||
Attack
editOn the morning of March 19, 2020, several dozen JNIM militants raided the base, arriving from three directions and overwhelming the Malian troops stationed there.[3][4] It was not immediately known which group caused the attack, but on March 21 JNIM claimed responsibility.[5]
Casualties and aftermath
editInitially, the Malian army reported two dead and ten wounded, but these numbers soon rose to 29 soldiers killed and five wounded.[6] An anonymous Malian military official claimed the death toll was closer to 30.[3] The bodies were taken to Bourem.[3]
There is little information regarding casualties of JNIM. In the statement claiming responsibility, the group claimed to have destroyed or captured stocks of weaponry from the base, corroborated by photos.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Mali: Attaque meurtrière contre les forces armées à Tarkint". 19 March 2020.
- ^ "Terrorist assault on Malian military base leaves dozens of dead". 24 March 2020.
- ^ a b c "Une "trentaine" de soldats tués au Mali dans une attaque attribuée aux djihadistes". Le Temps (in French). 2020-03-20. ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ^ a b "JNIM kills dozens in Mali base attack | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ^ "Dozens of Mali soldiers killed in deadliest 2020 attack". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ^ "Mali: attaque meurtrière contre les forces armées à Tarkint". RFI (in French). 2020-03-19. Retrieved 2023-02-08.