115 reported dead after attack on Malian village

BAMAKO, Mali — 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 Egossagou 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.

AP