Over 20 Civilians Killed In Central Mali Village Attacks

More than 20 people were killed in a string of attacks on villages in central Mali s insurgency-hit Mopti region, two local sources said.

The unidentified assailants struck during the day and into the evening, ransacking and burning six villages in the Bandiagara area, the sources said on Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

One of the sources said the assailants had come in large numbers on motorcycles and attacked the first village, where they killed everyone and destroyed everything.

There was no immediate comment from the ruling military junta.

The West African nation is battling armed groups with links to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, which took root in its arid north following a Tuareg separatist rebellion in 2012.