Gunmen kill over 40 in northern Mali

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Over 40 Malian civilians were killed on Sunday when armed assailants launched three simultaneous attacks in the country’s northern areas near the border with Niger, authorities said Monday.

“More than 40 civilians were killed by terrorists on Sunday in the villages of Karou, Ouatagouna, and Daoutegeft,” a local official of the Ansongo prefecture told local media.

The suspected terrorists, who were riding motorbikes, also took away domestic animals and burned houses, the report said.

Some 20 civilians were massacred in Karou, 14 in Ouatagouna commune, and others were killed in the hamlet of Daoutegeft, it said.

Mali has been battling insurgency linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group since 2012 when the unrest started in the north of the West African country. The violence, which has killed thousands of civilians and troops, has since spread to neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso.