Over 20 people killed in cluster of violence

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita

Over 20 people including nine soldiers have been killed by unknown gunmen in separate incidents in central Mali on Friday night in what authorities termed as inter- ethnic attacks.

According to BBC, authorities in Mali reveal that unknown gunmen stormed Ogossagou village, killed 21 civilians and there after set houses, crops and livestock a blaze.

Ogossagou is a village mainly occupied by the Fulani people, a largely Muslim ethnic group in Mali who are traditionally herders.

In a separate incident, Malian security forces said on Twitter that they had sustained “material damage” during an ambush in Gao region, which also claimed lives of eight soldiers and left four injured.

A ninth soldier was also killed in another attack at a camp in Mondoro, which is regularly targeted by militants.

It’s known that since 2012, when an Islamic rebellion broke out in the north of Mali, the country has since been blighted by instabilities.

The Dagon community, which is one of the ethnic groups in Mali and others– accuse the Fulani of being linked to Hijahadi groups operating across the Sahel region.

These accusations have strongly fuelled inter ethnic violence in the recent years.

Last March, about 160 people were killed in another attack at Ogossagou, which authorities blamed on a Dagon militia.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the latest incident, but village chief Aly Ousmane Barry told local media that the gunmen struck several hours after government troops had withdrawn from the area.

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