Five killed at ethnic flarepoint in central Mali

At least five villagers were killed in an attack in central Mali overnight, local officials said yesterday, in an apparent bout of ethnic violence in the war-torn state.

The attack occurred in Ogossagou, a village mainly inhabited by Fulani people,where around 160 died last March in a massacre blamed on Dogon militiamen.

About 30 gunmen carried out the new attack, village chief Aly Ousmane Barry told AFP, adding that he saw assailants set fire to part of the village.

"I saw five bodies," Barry said.

A local government official, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the attack took place but put the toll at 11.

He added that the attackers moved in several hours after Malian troops had pulled out of the area.

Mali has been struggling to contain a jihadist revolt that broke out in the north of the country in 2012, claiming thousands of military and civilian lives since.

The conflict later spread to central Mali and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Ethnic violence surged in central Mali after the emergence of a group called the Katiba Macina in 2015.