JNIM Releases Video of Captured Soldiers, Raises Dioura Attack Toll Claim to 150 Killed

Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM said on its Az-Zallaqa propaganda channel on the night of Friday, September 19-20, 2026, that it had "neutralized 150 members of the Malian army, including two colonels and one captain" and captured 93 others in its September 10 mass attack on the army camp at Dioura, Mopti region — a sharp escalation from earlier reporting of 100+ soldiers killed. The group released videos showing dozens of captured Malian soldiers. The Associated Press said it could not immediately verify the figures, and Malian army spokesperson Col.-Maj. Bakary Bocar Maiga declined to comment. If accurate, the revised toll would make the Dioura attack one of the deadliest in JNIM's history, compounding the more than 100 soldiers reported killed earlier in September and the unresolved status of over 100 hostages taken in the same raid.