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> 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> BAMAKO (Reuters) - At least 23 people are dead 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 Islamist groups.

After raiding the village of Saran, the attackers went on to another village called Bidi, but people had already fled, said Harouna Sankare, mayor of nearby Ouenkoro, who blamed the attack on Dogon hunters.

“Since they didn’t find anybody (in Bidi), they burned the village and the houses and attacked the cattle,” he said.

Other local officials confirmed the attack but did not share the number of casualties. Neither the central authorities nor the army were reachable for comment.

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

Tit-for-tat violence between the rival communities has 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 fueled further by the presence of jihadist militants, 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 traveling in hit a landmine. Local mayor Issiaka Ganame said none of the passengers survived. It was not clear who laid the mine, but jihadist groups are known to deploy this kind of ordnance in the region. </s> Bamako, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jun, 2019 ) :At least 14 people were killed in an attack on two ethnic Dogon villages in central Mali, local officials said Tuesday.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Monday's attack but Mali has seen a spate of violence 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 a dozen bodies had been counted in both villages.

Earlier this year 130 people were killed in an attack on a village by suspected militiamen from a rival ethnic group.

Jihadist raids remain a persistent threat in Mali, but in the centre of the country, an ethnic mosaic, attacks have had a bloody impact on groups that have a history of rivalry. </s> At least 14 people were killed in an attack on two ethnic villages in central Mali, local officials said Tuesday.

Monday's attacks on Ganfafani and Yoro villages near the border with left "14 people dead according to a provisional toll", said

A military source said as many as 40 people may have been killed. </s> Eric Feferberg, AFP | Women belonging to the Dogon ethnic group walk back to the village they left in central Mali after it was taken by Islamist groups in February 2013.

At least 95 people were killed when gunmen raided their village in central Mali late on Sunday, FRANCE 24 has confirmed, marking the latest attack in a region that has witnessed a resurgence of ethnic and jihadist violence.

The attack took place in the ethnic Dogon village of Sobane, in Mali’s central Mopti region, where Dogon hunters and members of the largely nomadic Fulani ethnic group have repeatedly clashed in recent months.

Armed assailants set fire to the village and shot villagers as they sought to escape the flames, the mayor of Sangha told FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Bamako, Christelle Pire.

The mayor said the charred bodies of 95 people had been found and that several more villagers were missing.

Contacted by FRANCE 24, the Malian defence ministry confirmed the death toll at 95, adding that 19 people were still missing and that the toll was likely to rise.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack.

Members of the Dogon and Fulani groups often clash over access to land and water. The Dogon also accuse Fulanis of having ties to local jihadist groups, while Fulanis claim that Mali’s army has armed Dogon hunters to attack them.

Earlier this year, the massacre of more than 150 Fulani villagers, including women and children, prompted Mali’s government to sack senior military officials and dissolve a militia composed of Dogon hunters.

Weeks later, the entire government resigned over its failure to disarm militias and beat back Islamist militants, who continue to stage attacks six years after France helped Malian forces stave off a jihadist insurgency in the country's restive north. </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> Alwaght- Scores of people have been killed and many more wounded in attacks on two ethnic Dogon villages in central Mali, the government said Tuesday.

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

"The terrorist attacks on Monday evening targeted the villages of Gangafani and Yoro... not far from the border with Burkina Faso. The official provisional toll is 38 dead and numerous people wounded," the Malian government said in a statement.

"Defense and security forces have been dispatched to the location to protect the population and their property and to track down the assailants of these attacks," the statement added, revising upwards an earlier toll of 14 dead..

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 disemboweled 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 targeted," said Adama Dionko, a spokesman for Mali's Dogon association.

"We demand the state give us more security."

Mali's armed forces also reported, on Twitter, that an army patrol Tuesday was ambushed at Gossi in the north of the country and suffered both "human and material losses".

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

But despite military help from France and the United Nations, Mali's government is struggling to calm violence that began in the north of the country in 2012, sparked by radical 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 extremist 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 central region coincides with an ongoing jihadist campaign that the Mali government is struggling to contain. </s> More than 130 people were killed in an attack on a village in central Mali

More than 130 people were killed in an attack on a village in central Mali on Saturday by armed men wearing traditional Dogon hunters’ clothing.

According to BBC,Gunmen surrounded the village at dawn before attacking people in their homes in Ogossagou in the Mopti region.

The attackers targeted members of the Fulani ethnic community who are accused of having ties to jihadists.

The attack took place while UN ambassadors were in Mali to discuss increased violence.

The Security Council mission met Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga to talk about the increased threat from jihadist fighters in central Mali.

The victims of Saturday’s deadly attack were “killed with guns and machetes”, a local security official told AFP news agency.

Witnesses also told AFP that nearly all the huts in the village had been burned down.

The mayor of the neighbouring village of Ouenkoro, Cheick Harouna Sankare, described the attack as a “massacre”.
At least 23 people are dead and 300 missing after attacks on three Fulani villages in central Mali.