More than 100 people killed during the assassination of ethnic groups in central Mali

At least 100 people were killed and dozens more injured during an attack perpetrated today in central Mali by "Donzo" militias (traditional hunters), who depend on the ethnic group Bambara, against Fulani breeders, during one of the worst killings in recent years in the country.

Tribal sources and local politicians told the EFE news agency that about 30 armed men, wearing donzo uniforms, had broken out in the morning in Ogossagou town, in the Bankbad region. , in the Mopti region, and attacked the predominantly local Fulani population.

"The badailants stormed the northeastern and southeastern city and opened fire on residents, the elderly, children and women, without distinction," said an alderman of the attacked city during a phone interview.

The city councilor, who described what had happened as "mbadacre", said that more than 400 houses had been burned down and "the city had become ashy".

In principle, the Malian government did not comment on the event.

This attack coincides with the conclusion today of a two-day visit to Bamako by a UN Security Council delegation to badess the current mandate of its Mali peacekeeping mission, Minusma.

The region of Mopti was in 2018 the scene of intermittent clashes between touareg groups rival or between hunters and shepherds for control of the land and for religious reasons, hunters accusing the Fulani to have links with local jihadist groups. .

The NGO Human Rights Watch warned that in 2018, more than 200 civilians were killed and dozens of villages burned in central Mali as a result of attacks by militias formed by ethnic groups of the region.