What is "diabaly"

Diabaly is a small town and rural commune in the Cercle of Niono in the Ségou Region of Mali. The commune has an area of approximately and includes 28 villages as well as the town. In the 2009 census the commune had a population of 35,266. The town lies north of Niono on the west side of the Fala de Molodo channel that forms part of the Office du Niger irrigation scheme. The fields around the town are irrigated but much of the commune lies to the east of the Fala de Molodo in an area that lacks irrigation.

On 8 September 2012, during the Northern Mali conflict, a group of Malian army soldiers arrested 17 Islamic preachers coming from Mauritania at a checkpoint near the village. The 17 men were suspected to be Islamist militants and 16 of them were executed. Opposition military forces occupied Diabaly for a week starting from 14 January 2013.