At least 26 villagers were killed in a violent attack on Dembo village in central Mali, near the Burkina Faso border, according to local government official Moulaye Guindo. The assault, which occurred on Sunday evening, targeted villagers working in their farmlands, marking the latest in a series of violent incidents in the conflict-ridden region.
Guindo, the mayor of Bankass town where Dembo is located, reported that the assailants struck as most villagers were engaged in agricultural work. This attack follows a pattern of increasing violence in central Mali, as the country’s military junta struggles to contain unrest in both the central and northern regions.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion has fallen on JNIM, an al-Qaida-linked extremist group known for similar assaults on villagers in the area. JNIM was blamed for a July attack on a wedding ceremony that left at least 21 people dead.
The violence in central and northern Mali has persisted for over a decade, with extremist rebels regrouping and launching attacks on remote villages and security forces after being initially forced from power in northern cities. The security crisis has been further exacerbated by the collapse of a 2015 peace deal with ethnic Tuareg rebels active in the north.
