BAMAKO, Mali (AFP) — Traditional Dogon hunters killed at least 50 people in an attack on a Peul community village in central Mali on Saturday, military and local officials said.
“At least 50 Peul civilians have been killed Saturday in the village of Ogossagou by traditional hunters,” said a military source.
Cheick Harouna Sankare, mayor of neighbouring Ouenkoro, confirmed the toll and denounced what he said was “a massacre of Peul civilians by traditional Peul hunters”.
It was just the latest in a series of clashes between the Dogon and the Peul — or Fulani — communities, that have left dozens dead in recent months.
In January, Dogon hungers were blamed for the killing of 37 people in a Fulani village.
The violence is fuelled by accusations of grazing cattle on Dogon land and disputes over access to land and water, but the area is also troubled by jihadist influence.
Some communities have accused the herders of being accomplices of jihadist groups.