| Sokoto hostage rescue attempt | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Boko Haram insurgency | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom Nigeria |
 Al Qaeda | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Special Boat Service | Boko Haram | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
6-20 commandos 100+ soldiers | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 2 hostages executed | 8 killed, 2-3 arrested | ||||||
On 8 March 2012, members of the British military Special Boat Service, supported by members of the Nigerian Army, attempted a rescue mission to rescue British hostage Chris McManus and Italian hostage Franco Lamolinara from Boko Haram, supported by Al Qaeda, in Sokoto in north-west Nigeria. The mission failed when both hostages were executed by their captors.[1]
- ^ Watt, Nicholas; Richard Norton-Taylor; Andrea Vogt (8 March 2012). "British and Italian hostages killed in Nigeria". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 March 2012.