Raid on Dioura (2019)

The attack began on the morning of March 17, around 6am local time.^[2] Several dozen jihadists launched the attack aboard pickups and motorcycles.^[4] Some attackers infiltrated the town of Dioura prior to the fighting.^[5] The raid began after an explosive-laden motorcycle driven by a suicide bomber rammed into the Dioura camp.^[6] The camp was then attacked from the north and the southeast.^[5] Malian soldiers at the camp put up a resistance that lasted several hours.^[6] The jihadists then set several vehicles, including tank trucks and ammo storage, alight.^[6] Around 4pm, the Malian government announced it had regained control of the Dioura camp.^[2]

On March 18, the Malian government announced a provisional death toll of 23 killed and 17 wounded, with no Malian troops taken prisoner.^[7] Several soldiers who were initially declared missing were later found in villages around 20 kilometers from Dioura.^[7] A military source and local official stated the death toll was 21 Malian soldiers killed.^[2] The Malian opposition, Front for the Safeguard of Democracy, announced a toll of over 20 killed, along with twenty missing, eight vehicles burned, and eight vehicles captured.^[2]

The commander of the Malian forces, Mohamed Sidati Ould Cheikh, was killed in the battle. The bodies were buried on March 18 near Dioura.^[2] On March 21, new bodies had been discovered, with the Malian government updating the death toll to 26 killed.^[8] This was corroborated in a May 31, 2019 MINUSMA report.^[9]

JNIM claimed that three of their fighters had been killed, along with the deaths of 30 Malian soldiers.^[10] The group also claimed the capture of several vehicles and a cache of weapons.^[11]

The raid on Dioura was the deadliest day for the Malian army since the Second Battle of Kidal in 2014.^[6]