BAMAKO, Mali (AP) - The Latest on the Mali village attack (all times local):
5:35 p.m.
A group representing ethnic Peulhs in central Mali says the provisional death toll from a morning militia attack has risen to 115.
Abdoul Aziz Diallo, president of Tabital Pulaaku, gave the figure Saturday after receiving detailed information from authorities at the scene. Initially, witnesses said at least 40 had been slain.
Diallo said the victims included pregnant women and small children. Another leader of a local Peulh militia said the village chief of Ogossagou had also been killed along with some of his grandchildren.
It was not immediately possible to independently corroborate the death toll.
Members of the Dogon group accuse the Peulhs of supporting these jihadists linked to terror groups in the country’s north and beyond. Peulhs have in turn accused the Dogon of supporting the Malian army in its effort to stamp out extremism.
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5:05 p.m.
Witnesses in a central Malian village say at least 40 people have been slain and dozens wounded after an attack blamed on an ethnic militia.
Sekou Allaye Bolly told The Associated Press that the Dogon fighters had descended upon the Peulh village of Ogossagou just after 5 a.m. Saturday.
The dead included the village chief and his grandchildren.
The Dogon and Peulh communities have long co-existed in central Mali though the emergence of jihadists from other parts of the country has unraveled the peace between them.
Members of the Dogon group accuse the Peulhs of supporting these jihadists linked to terror groups in the country’s north and beyond. Peulhs have in turn accused the Dogon of supporting the Malian army in its effort to stamp out extremism.
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Associated Press writer Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this story.
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This story has been corrected to show the village name is spelled Ogossagou instead of Egossagou, per Peulh association in the area.
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