Armed gunmen killed at least 23 people and wounded 12 in an attack on a village in central Mali, officials said Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sidi Mohamed El Bechir, governor of the Bandiagara region where the attack took place, said unidentified men killed nearly two dozen civilians Friday and set fire to several homes in the village of Yarou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No group has yet claimed responsibility for this attack, and casualties are estimated between 20 and 30 dead, and the number of wounded may be even higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The West African nation is battling a violent insurgency with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State that took root in its arid north following a Tuareg separatist rebellion in 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Armed gunmen killed at least 23 people and wounded 12 in an attack on a village in central Mali, officials said Sunday. Sidi Mohamed El Bechir, governor of the Bandiagara region where the attack took place, said unidentified men killed nearly two dozen civilians Friday and set fire to several homes in the village of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":95804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,31],"tags":[5320,5318,5319],"class_list":["post-95803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-news","tag-african-poverty-stricken-county","tag-armed-conflicts","tag-civilians-killed-in-mali"],"yoast_head":"\n