Dogon villages often follow a traditional way of life

Nearly 100 people have been killed in an attack in a village in central Mali inhabited by the Dogon ethnic group, officials say.

The attack happened in Sobame Da, near Sanga town in the Mopti region.

The search for bodies is ongoing, but officials say 95 people have been found dead, with many of the bodies burned.

There have been numerous attacks in Mali in recent months, some ethnically driven, some carried out by jihadist groups.

Clashes between Dogon hunters and semi-nomadic Fulani herders are frequent.

Mali's government said "suspected terrorists" had attacked the village at around 03:00 local time. At least 19 people were still missing, it said.

But the mayor of nearby Bankass, Moulaye Guindo, told Reuters news agency that Fulanis from that district had attacked Sobane-Kou after nightfall.

"About 50 heavily armed men arrived on motorbikes and pickups," a survivor who called himself Amadou Togo told the AFP agency. "They first surrounded the village and then attacked – anyone who tried to escape was killed."

"No-one was spared – women, children, elderly people," he added.

No group has officially said it was responsible for the attack.

"Right now we have 95 dead civilians. The bodies are burned, we are continuing to look for others," a local official told AFP.

What is the Dogon-Fulani conflict?

The Dogon people have lived in central Mali for centuries, and live a largely traditional way of life as settled farmers.

Many Fulani, on the other hand, are semi-nomadic herders who move across large distances in West Africa.

Friction between farmers and the roaming herders over resources is long-standing – but clashes between them have increased since a militant Islamist uprising in northern Mali in 2012.

Both sides accuse the other of carrying out attacks amid the unrest.

The Fulani, a largely Muslim ethnic group, have been accused of having links with the Islamist uprising. But for their part, the Fulani accuse a Dogon self-defence association, Dan Na Ambassagou, of attacks on them.

The attack on Sobame Da has killed about a third of its inhabitants.

In the same region in March, more than 130 Fulani villagers were killed by armed men wearing traditional Dogon hunters' clothing.

In March, more than 130 people were killed in an attack on the villages of Ogossagou and Welingara

After the attack, the Dogon Dan Na Ambassagou was banned by Mali's government.

But the organisation, which insists it is a self-defence group and had nothing to do with the killings, refused calls to lay down its arms.

The United Nations mission in Mali, in a report dated 31 May, said the security situation in central Mali "continued to deteriorate".

It said that clashes between the Dogon and Fulani had been "exacerbated by the presence of extremist groups", and that the central region had recorded the highest number of attacks against civilians.

Hundreds of people have been killed so far this year.

What effect did the Islamist uprising have?

There are several Islamist groups based in northern Mali. In 2013, they seized half of the country and were advancing on the capital, Bamako.

France, the former colonial power in Mali, and some neighbouring African countries, intervened – and pushed the Islamist groups back towards their strongholds in the Sahara desert.

Before the unrest, disagreements between the Fulani and Dogon were often settled through negotiation.

But the uprising - which had spread to the centre of Mali by 2015 - decreased government control and increased the availability of weapons. </s> MALI - Nearly 100 people have been killed in an attack in a village in central Mali inhabited by the Dogon ethnic group, reports say.

The attack happened in Sobane-Kou, near Sanga town in the Mopti region. The search for bodies is ongoing, but officials say 95 people have been found dead, with many of the bodies burned.

There have been numerous attacks in Mali in recent months, some ethnically driven, some carried out by jihadist groups.

Clashes between Dogon hunters and semi-nomadic Fulani herders are frequent.

“Right now we have 95 dead civilians. The bodies are burned, we are continuing to look for others,” a local official told the AFP agency.

What is the Dogon-Fulani conflict?

The Dogon people have lived in central Mali for centuries, and live a largely traditional way of life as settled farmers. Many Fulani, on the other hand, are semi-nomadic herders who move across large distances in West Africa.

Friction between farmers and the roaming herders over resources is long-standing – but clashes between them have increased since a militant Islamist uprising in northern Mali in 2012.

Both sides accuse the other of carrying out attacks amid the unrest.

The Fulani, a largely Muslim ethnic group, have been accused of having links with the Islamist uprising. But for their part, the Fulani accuse a Dogon self-defence association, Dan Na Ambassagou, of attacks on them. War in the desert: Why Sahara is terror’s new front line.

The attack on Sobane-Kou has killed about a third of its inhabitants.

In the same region in March, more than 130 Fulani villagers were killed by armed men wearing traditional Dogon hunters’ clothing.

Media captionIn March, more than 130 people were killed in an attack on the villages of Ogossagou and Welingara. After the attack, the Dogon Dan Na Ambassagou was banned by Mali’s government.

But the organisation, which insists it is a self-defence group and had nothing to do with the killings, refused calls to lay down its arms.

The United Nations mission in Mali, in a report dated 31 May, said the security situation in central Mali “continued to deteriorate”.

It said that clashes between the Dogon and Fulani had been “exacerbated by the presence of extremist groups”, and that the central region had recorded the highest number of attacks against civilians. Hundreds of people have been killed so far this year.

What effect did the Islamist uprising have?

There are several Islamist groups based in northern Mali. In 2013, they seized half of the country and were advancing on the capital, Bamako.

France, the former colonial power in Mali, and some neighbouring African countries, intervened – and pushed the Islamist groups back towards their strongholds in the Sahara desert.

Before the unrest, disagreements between the Fulani and Dogon were often settled through negotiation.

But the uprising - which had spread to the centre of Mali by 2015 - decreased government control and increased the availability of weapons. </s> Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Dogon villages often follow a traditional way of life

Nearly 100 people have been killed in an attack in a village in central Mali inhabited by the Dogon ethnic group, officials say.

The attack happened in Sobame Da, near Sanga town in the Mopti region.

The search for bodies is ongoing, but officials say 95 people have been found dead, with many of the bodies burned.

There have been numerous attacks in Mali in recent months, some ethnically driven, some carried out by jihadist groups.

Clashes between Dogon hunters and semi-nomadic Fulani herders are frequent.

Mali's government said "suspected terrorists" had attacked the village at around 03:00 local time. At least 19 people were still missing, it said.

But the mayor of nearby Bankass, Moulaye Guindo, told Reuters news agency that Fulanis from that district had attacked Sobane Da after nightfall.

"About 50 heavily armed men arrived on motorbikes and pickups," a survivor who called himself Amadou Togo told the AFP agency. "They first surrounded the village and then attacked – anyone who tried to escape was killed."

"No-one was spared – women, children, elderly people," he added.

No group has officially said it was responsible for the attack.

"Right now we have 95 dead civilians. The bodies are burned, we are continuing to look for others," a local official told AFP.

What is the Dogon-Fulani conflict?

The Dogon people have lived in central Mali for centuries, and live a largely traditional way of life as settled farmers.

Many Fulani, on the other hand, are semi-nomadic herders who move across large distances in West Africa.

Friction between farmers and the roaming herders over resources is long-standing – but clashes between them have increased since a militant Islamist uprising in northern Mali in 2012.

Both sides accuse the other of carrying out attacks amid the unrest.

The Fulani, a largely Muslim ethnic group, have been accused of having links with the Islamist uprising. But for their part, the Fulani accuse a Dogon self-defence association, Dan Na Ambassagou, of attacks on them.

Analysis: A crisis getting worse

By Louise Dewast, West Africa correspondent

There is a growing view in Mali that the (mostly military) response to this multi-faceted crisis is ineffective and even counter-productive. Despite having a large UN peacekeeping mission and French forces deployed since 2013, insecurity has worsened in some parts of the country.

According to the International Crisis Group, there were four times more attacks in May 2019 compared to May 2016. In their latest report on the country, the group urges the government to engage in dialogue with militants to negotiate local ceasefires and facilitate humanitarian access to civilians in need.

After another massacre of Fulanis in March, senior officials were sacked, people took to the streets – and the entire government resigned in April.

Is this attack unusual?

The attack on Sobame Da has killed about a third of its inhabitants.

In the same region in March, more than 130 Fulani villagers were killed by armed men wearing traditional Dogon hunters' clothing.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption In March, more than 130 people were killed in an attack on the villages of Ogossagou and Welingara

After the attack, the Dogon Dan Na Ambassagou was banned by Mali's government.

But the organisation, which insists it is a self-defence group and had nothing to do with the killings, refused calls to lay down its arms.

The United Nations mission in Mali, in a report dated 31 May, said the security situation in central Mali "continued to deteriorate".

It said that clashes between the Dogon and Fulani had been "exacerbated by the presence of extremist groups", and that the central region had recorded the highest number of attacks against civilians.

Hundreds of people have been killed so far this year.

What effect did the Islamist uprising have?

There are several Islamist groups based in northern Mali. In 2013, they seized half of the country and were advancing on the capital, Bamako.

France, the former colonial power in Mali, and some neighbouring African countries, intervened – and pushed the Islamist groups back towards their strongholds in the Sahara desert.

Before the unrest, disagreements between the Fulani and Dogon were often settled through negotiation.

But the uprising - which had spread to the centre of Mali by 2015 - decreased government control and increased the availability of weapons. </s> Bamako: Attackers believed to belong to the Fulani ethnic group have raided a rival Dogon village in central Mali, killing at least 95 people and burning houses to the ground, local and government officials said on Monday.

Violence between Dogon hunters and Fulani herders has killed hundreds since January, including an attack in March in which gunmen killed more than 150 Fulani, one of the worst acts of bloodshed in Mali's recent history.

Sunday's raid took place in the Sangha district, where Fulanis from the neighbouring Bankass district descended on a Dogon village after dark, Bankass mayor Moulaye Guindo said on Monday.

"Armed men, apparently Fulani, fired at the population and burnt the village," said Siriam Kanoute, an official for the nearby town of Bandiagara. </s> At least 14 people were killed in an attack on two ethnic Dogon villages in centre of Mali, local officials said Tuesday, in the latest in a cycle of violence in the fragile Sahel country.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack but Mali has seen a spate of massacres this year between ethnic Dogon and Fulani communities.

The attacks on Ganfafani and Yoro villages near the border with Burkina Faso left “14 people dead according to a provisional toll”, said local judicial official Boubacar Sidiki Samake.

A Mali military source said as many as 40 people may have been killed.

Goundjou Poudiougou, a local community official, said around a dozen bodies had been counted in both villages.

“They are terrorists because they killed and then disembowelled some bodies and burned crops,” Poudiougou said.

Earlier this month, a massacre on another Dogon village, Sobane Da, killed 35 people, stirring fears of tit-for-tat attacks in a region with an ethnic patchwork.

“This time is the same as Sobane Da: People and animals targetted,” said Adama Dionko, a spokesman for the Mali’s Dogon association.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has appealed for an end to the revenge violence after he visited the site of the Sobane Da massacre.

But despite military help from France and the UN, Mali’s government is struggling to calm violence that began in the north of the country in 2012, sparked by radical Islamist and Tuareg militias.

Earlier this year, in the bloodiest raid, 160 Fulani were killed in an attack on a village by suspected militiamen from a rival ethnic group.

Ethnic violence in central Mali surged after a predominantly Fulani jihadist group led by preacher Amadou Koufa emerged in 2015.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, said in May it had recorded nearly 500 deaths in attacks on Fulanis in the central regions of Mopti and Segou since January 2018.

Armed Fulanis caused 63 deaths among civilians in the Mopti region over the same period, it said.

The Fulani are primarily cattle breeders and traders, while the Bambara and Dogon ethic groups are traditionally sedentary farmers.

Unrest in the volatile central region coincides with an ongoing jihadist campaign that the Mali government is struggling to contain. </s> At least 23 people have been killed and 300 missing after an attack on Sunday on a village of Fulani herders in central Mali where communal violence has surged in recent months, a local mayor said.

Two other Fulani communities were targeted on Sunday evening amid a string of deadly assaults between herders and ethnic Dogon farmers who have long fought over land and resources but whose rivalry has been stoked this year by the growing presence of armed groups.

"During Sunday, and overnight, in the villages of Bidi, Sankoro and Saran, armed men attacked civilians, killing 23 of them," Cheick Harouna Sankare, mayor of the neighbouring town of Ouenkoro, told AFP news agency.

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"The situation is serious, the army needs to act to reassure the population," he said, adding that an emergency meeting had been called.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's government has vowed to disarm the militias but has struggled to do so.

Tit-for-tat violence between rival communities escalated this year. In March, suspected Dogon militiamen killed more than 150 Fulani in central Mali, one of the worst acts of bloodshed in the country's recent history. Raids on Dogon villages in June killed over 40 people.

Instability is fuelled further by the presence of armed groups, who use northern and central Mali as launchpads to stage attacks across the Sahel.

Elsewhere in central Mali, 12 civilians including a baby were killed on Sunday when the vehicle they were travelling in hit a landmine.

Local mayor Issiaka Ganame said none of the passengers survived. It was not clear who laid the mine, but armed groups are known to deploy this kind of ordnance in the region.

Unrest in the central region coincides with an ongoing campaign the Mali government is struggling to contain despite military help from France and the United Nations. </s> At least 23 people have been killed and 300 missing after an attack on Sunday on a village of Fulani herders in central Mali where communal violence has surged in recent months, a local mayor said.

Two other Fulani communities were targeted on Sunday evening amid a string of deadly assaults between herders and ethnic Dogon farmers who have long fought over land and resources but whose rivalry has been stoked this year by the growing presence of armed groups.

"During Sunday, and overnight, in the villages of Bidi, Sankoro and Saran, armed men attacked civilians, killing 23 of them," Cheick Harouna Sankare, mayor of the neighbouring town of Ouenkoro, told AFP news agency.

"The situation is serious, the army needs to act to reassure the population," he said, adding that an emergency meeting had been called.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's government has vowed to disarm the militias but has struggled to do so.

Tit-for-tat violence between rival communities escalated this year. In March, suspected Dogon militiamen killed more than 150 Fulani in central Mali, one of the worst acts of bloodshed in the country's recent history. Raids on Dogon villages in June killed over 40 people.

Instability is fuelled further by the presence of armed groups, who use northern and central Mali as launchpads to stage attacks across the Sahel.

Elsewhere in central Mali, 12 civilians including a baby were killed on Sunday when the vehicle they were travelling in hit a landmine.

Local mayor Issiaka Ganame said none of the passengers survived. It was not clear who laid the mine, but armed groups are known to deploy this kind of ordnance in the region.

Unrest in the central region coincides with an ongoing campaign the Mali government is struggling to contain despite military help from France and the United Nations. </s> Bamako, Mali | AFP | Thirty-seven civilians were killed when armed men believed to be traditional Dogon hunters attacked a village of Fulani herders in central Mali Tuesday in the latest clash between the warring communities, the government said.

The attack on Koulogon village near Bankass in the Mopti region was carried out by “armed men dressed like traditional dozo hunters” allied to the Dogon ethnic group, said an official statement.

“In addition to the 37 recorded deaths, all civilians, the casualty toll includes several wounded and many burned homes”, it added.

Earlier, a security source and a man who said he had witnessed the attack also blamed the Dogon, and put the number of dead at 33.

Allaye Yattara, a Fulani, told AFP: “Our village chief Moussa Diallo was killed in the attack along with old women, (and) a girl, all members of his family.”

France helped Malian forces stave off a jihadist insurgency that took control of large parts of the troubled north in 2012, but since the death in November of Fulani jihadist figure Amadou Koufa, inter-group conflict has increased.

The violence is fuelled by accusations of Fulani grazing cattle on Dogon land and disputes over access to land and water.

The UN recorded more than 500 civilian deaths in the area in 2018.

In June, 24 members of the Fulani community were killed in an attack a UN probe blamed on the Dogon. </s> BAMAKO (Reuters) - Gunmen killed about 60 Fulani herders in central Mali on Saturday, a local mayor said, in one of the deadliest such attacks in a region reeling from worsening ethnic and jihadist violence.

The assault on the village of Ogossagou came as a U.N. Security Council mission visited Mali to try to find solutions to violence that killed hundreds of civilians last year and is spreading across West Africa’s Sahel region.

Moulaye Guindo, mayor of the nearby town of Bankass, said the armed men, who were dressed as traditional Donzo hunters, encircled and attacked Ogossagou at about 4 a.m. (0400 GMT).

“It’s a very heavy death toll,” he told Reuters. “The village of Ogossagou is completely devastated.”

One village resident, who asked not to be identified, said the attack appeared to be in retaliation for an al Qaeda affiliate’s claim of responsibility on Friday for a raid last week that killed 23 soldiers.

The group said the raid was payback for violence by Mali’s army and militiamen against the Fulani.

Jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have exploited ethnic rivalries in Mali and its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger to boost recruitment and render vast swaths of territory virtually ungovernable.
At least 160 Fulani herdsmen are killed in an attack on the villages of Ogossagou and Welingara by Dogon militia in Mali.