Bamako: A minimum of 26 individuals had been killed after an armed group attacked a village close to the Burkina Faso border in central Mali, a authorities official mentioned on Monday, the most recent violent assault within the conflict-hit area.

The mayor of the city of Bankas, Moulaye Guindo, mentioned the attackers attacked the villagers within the village of Dembo on Sunday night when most of them had been working of their fields. Such assaults are rising in central Mali, because the nation’s navy authorities can also be struggling to cease violence within the northern area.

No group has claimed accountability for Sunday’s assault. Nonetheless, the blame fell on JNIM. That is an extremist group linked to al-Qaeda. It typically targets villagers within the area in an analogous approach. This incident additionally consists of an assault in July when rebels attacked a marriage ceremony and killed at the very least 21 individuals.

Armed violence has continued in central and northern Mali for greater than a decade. Extremist rebels ousted from energy in northern cities have regrouped with the assistance of not too long ago expelled French troops and have launched assaults on distant villages and safety forces. A 2015 peace take care of ethnic Tuareg rebels energetic within the north has additionally collapsed, deepening the safety disaster.