Mali: Armed attack leaves at least 15 dead

An attack perpetrated Thursday in Bouldé, in the region of Mopti (central Mali) by unidentified gunmen left at least 15 people dead and several others wounded, official sources confirmed Saturday.

“Armed men dressed as traditional hunters burst into the village of Bouldé (Mondoro Commune) around 5 am, opening fire on the population, killing about 15 people and wounding several others,” Malian press agency, AMAP, quoted the sources as saying.

The attackers also set fire to homes and attics and stole cattle, said the sources.

Elements of the armed and security forces stationed in Mondoro went to the scene to elucidate the exact circumstances of the attack and to hunt the attackers and their accomplices.

In another incident that took place Friday, two civilians were killed and another person was wounded by an explosive device in central Mali.

On Saturday, a soldier was killed in a shooting that erupted when gunmen attempted to rob an army vehicle, in northern Mali, a Malian military source said.

The West African Sahel country has been engulfed in conflict since a loose alliance of ethnic Tuareg separatists and Islamist fighters with ties to Algeria and Libya seized large swathes of the north in 2012.