Armed men kill at least 20 civilians in Mali

DAKAR: Raiders in Mali have killed at least 20 civilians in attacks on villages near the northern town of Gao, while a UN peacekeeper died in a mine explosion in the troubled region.

"Criminal terrorists" on Saturday killed at least 20 civilians in several hamlets in the commune Anchawadj, a few dozen kilometres north of Gao, said a senior police officer who asked to remain anonymous. A local official blamed the attacks on jihadists put the death toll at 24, saying the killings occurred at Ebak some 35-km north of Gao and neighbouring hamlets.

The official, in Gao the main town in the region, described a "general panic" in the area. The situation in Anchawadj as "very concerning," and civilians were fleeing the area fearing further violence, he added.

Following Saturday’s bloodshed, a mine killed a UN peacekeeper Sunday as he was out on patrol in the north of the country, the head of the UN’s MINUSMA Mali force El Ghassim Wane tweeted.