Al Qaeda-linked attacks kill 50 in Mali villages

Al Qaeda-linked insurgents attacked two villages in Mali's central Mopti region on Wednesday night, killing around 50 people including members of pro-government self-defense groups and civilians, according to three sources including an aid worker, a diplomat and a security official.

The assaults on the villages of Korikori and Gomossagou marked the deadliest strikes since late April, when the group Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM, allied with the Tuareg-dominated Azawad Liberation Front for a coordinated offensive across the country. That campaign, which began on April 25, killed Defence Minister Sadio Camara in a car bomb at his Bamako residence and forced Russian forces aligned with Mali's military government to withdraw from the northern town of Kidal. Insurgents also targeted the home of junta leader Assimi Goita, though security forces defused the explosives. Sporadic clashes have continued since.

A resident of nearby Bankass described unidentified armed men bursting into the villages, opening fire and ransacking homes. Some properties were looted and set ablaze. Local self-defense militias, such as the Dogon hunter group Dan Nan Ambassagou allied with the...