At least 27 civilians have been killed in Mali’s central region of Mopti, when gunmen on motorbikes attacked ethnic Dogon farming villages close to the border with Burkina Faso.
It is not clear if Islamist militants carried out the attack, but eyewitnesses said the gunmen came from a neighbouring Fulani town.
Tit-for-tat attacks between the two communities have escalated over the last year fuelled by the perception that jihadist groups have sheltered in and have recruited from Fulani villages.
After briefly seizing the north of the country in 2012, jihadist groups have become increasingly active in central Mali, which has fuelled inter-communal violence.
-BBCAfrica-
