NEW DELHI: At least 20 civilian lives were claimed in central Mali on Saturday after armed men attacked a village in the Circle of Bankass in Mopti region.
According to the officials, unidentified armed assailants attacked villagers on their way to work in their fields.
“Yesterday we counted 19 deaths but today it is more than 20,” Bankass Mayor Moulaye Guindo said.
The region is one of the several areas in Mali’s north and centre where jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have been waging an insurgency since 2012.
Mali has been under insurgency since the 2012 Tuareg uprising that has since spread across the Sahel and to the north of West African coastal countries.
Jihadists gained ground despite costly foreign military efforts to push them back, killing thousands and displacing millions in the process as they attacked towns, villages and military targets.
