Muslim gunmen slaughter close to 100 innocents in attack on village in Mali

Gunmen killed nearly 100 people in an overnight massacre in Mali, local officials have said, amid a wave of violence in the Sahel region linked to Islamist extremists.

The attackers entered a traditional Dogon village in central Mali under cover of darkness and started “shooting, pillaging and burning”, local media quoted officials as saying. The attackers are believed to belong to the Fulani ethnic group.

Violence between Dogon hunters and Fulani herders has resulted in hundreds of deaths since January. In March, 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. Ali Dolo, the mayor, told Reuters that 95 charred bodies had been found so far, and the death toll was likely to rise as much of the village was still burning. “He said only 50 of the village’s 300 inhabitants had responded to a roll call.

The violence between Fulani and rival communities has exacerbated an already poor security situation in Mali’s semi-arid and desert regions, which are used as a base by Islamist extremist groups with ties to al-Qaida and Islamic State.

Militants have exploited ethnic rivalries in Mali and its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger in recent years to win recruits and extend their influence over swaths of territory.

On Monday, there were reports of a fresh attack in...

Read More HERE