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At least 20 villagers were killed in an attack in central Mali overnight, local officials said Friday, in an apparent bout of ethnic violence in the war-torn state.
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The attack occurred in Ogossagou, a village mainly inhabited by Fulani people, where around 160 died last March in a massacre blamed on Dogon militiamen.
About 30 gunmen carried out the new attack, village chief Aly Ousmane Barry told AFP, adding that he saw assailants set fire to part of the village.
"We have 20 dead. Some of them have been burned," said Aly Ousmane Barry.
A local government official, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the attack took place. He added that the attackers moved in several hours after Malian troops had pulled out of the area.
Eight more Malian soldiers were killed and four others injured in an ambush in the central Gao region on Friday, the army said.
The Malian force also suffered "material damage," the military said on social media sites, without saying who had carried out the attack in the village of Bintia.
Mali has been struggling to contain a jihadist revolt that broke out in the north of the country in 2012, claiming thousands of military and civilian lives since.
The conflict later spread to central Mali and neighbouring Read More – Source
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