Mali: at least 20 killed in attack on Ogossagou village

At least twenty villagers were massacred in an attack in the Malian village of Ogossagou, in the center of the country, medical sources said Friday.

The assault was carried out overnight by around thirty armed men, a few hours after the Malian army withdrew from the locality.

Twenty people were killed in an attack overnight on a village in central Mali, local officials said Friday.

In a spate of ethnic violence in the deeply troubled region, clashes have multiplied between the Peuls, mainly breeders, and the Bambara and Dogon ethnic groups, practicing farming, who have created their “self-defense groups”, notably by relying on the traditional “dozos” hunters.

In March 2019, a carnage imputed to Dogon hunters had killed more than 160 Fulani.

Relatedly, a Malian soldier was killed in the night from Thursday to Friday in an attack against a military camp in Mondoro, in central Mali, according to security sources.

Attacks against the military are often ascribed to the Islamist and Muslim Support Group (GSIM), the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel. It is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Monday said his government is ready to talk with jihadist groups in the hope of ending insurgency in the West African nation.

“Why not try to contact those who we know are pulling the strings,” Mr. Keita said in a recording of the interview published by Radio France Internationale.

“The number of dead in the Sahel is becoming exponential. It’s time for certain avenues to be explored.”