Death toll from attack on Mali herders rises to 157
Escalation in violence is spreading across the Sahel region
Bamako — The death toll from Saturday’s attack by gunmen on villagers in central Mali has risen to 157, a government spokesman said, confirming it as one of the worst recent atrocities in a country beset by ethnic violence. The attack, in which women and children were burned in their homes, marked an escalation in violence between Dogon hunters and Fulani herders that killed hundreds of civilians last year and is spreading across Africa’s Sahel, the region between the Sahara to the north and the continent’s savannas to the south. “The official death toll is 157,” government spokesman Amadou Kotia said on Tuesday. International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the crimes may fall under the court’s jurisdiction and a delegation will be sent to Mali. A UN Security Council mission was already visiting the former French colony to seek solutions to the violence when the attack took place. An official from a nearby town said on Saturday that armed men, dressed as traditional D...
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