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BAMAKO. – Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has replaced the army chief of staff and the head of the country’s land forces – a day after 134 Fulani villagers were killed by a rival ethnic group in the Mopti Region of the country.
The government says it is banning a militia which it says was behind Saturday’s attack – the latest in a series of deadly killings. The first video footage from Ogossagou village shows the smouldering remains of people’s homes – the mud walled huts collapsed after they were torched by the attackers.
There are burnt out vehicles and on one side of the village the body of a Fulani child no more than two years old. A local mayor says pregnant women were cut open with machetes and people were thrown down wells.
The Malian government says it is banning the Dan Na Ambassagou militia or self-defence group, which it says carried out the attack. But jihadists are also active in central Mali and Fulanis have carried out attacks too.
It’s a complex conflict which the Malian army has failed to deal with. – BBC
Online Reporter