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MALI-UNREST
Fifteen gendarmes killed in attack on Mali camp: source
BAMAKO, Jan 26, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Fifteen members of Mali’s security
forces died in a jihadist assault on Sunday at a camp in the centre of the
country, military and local sources said.
“At least 15 Malian military were killed Sunday in the Sokolo military
camp during an attack by terrorists,” a Malian military source told AFP.
A local lawmaker said all those killed were gendarmes, or paramilitary
police officers, adding that he saw “two other bodies outside the camp.”
“The terrorists arrived on motorcycles,” said the official, who asked not
to be named for security reasons.
“They were well-armed. They entered the Sokolo camp. They took away a lot
of material”, he said, adding that other officers were able to leave the
camp.
“It was complete chaos,” said a local humanitarian source who managed to
enter the camp after the suspected jihadists had left.
“In the camp, we counted 15 military bodies. All the military material had
been taken. It looked like the attackers knew what they were doing,” the
source said.
Sokolo is located in central Segou region where jihadist groups linked to
Al-Qaeda are known to operate.
Mali has been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in
the north in 2012 and has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives
since.
Mali announced Wednesday it would hold legislative elections in late
March, after repeated postponements prompted by insecurity and political
infighting.
Holding the elections was a key recommendation from crisis talks in
December aimed at exploring non-military solutions to the worsening violence.
Despite some 4,500 French troops in the Sahel region, plus a 13,000-strong
UN peacekeeping force in Mali, the conflict has engulfed the centre of the
country and spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Local Malian troops are frequently attacked.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1925HRS