Nearly 100 people have been killed in an attack in a village in central Mali inhabited by the Dogon ethnic group, officials say. The attack happened in Sobame Da, near Sanga town in the Mopti region. Photo: BBC

The search for bodies is ongoing, but officials say 95 people have been found dead, with many of the bodies burned. There have been numerous attacks in Mali in recent months, some ethnically driven, some carried out by jihadist groups.

Clashes between Dogon hunters and semi-nomadic Fulani herders are frequent. Mali's government said "suspected terrorists" had attacked the village at around 03:00 local time. At least 19 people were still missing, it said.

But the mayor of nearby Bankass, Moulaye Guindo, told Reuters news agency that Fulanis from that district had attacked Sobane-Kou after nightfall.

"About 50 heavily armed men arrived on motorbikes and pickups," a survivor who called himself Amadou Togo told the AFP agency. "They first surrounded the village and then attacked – anyone who tried to escape was killed."

"No-one was spared – women, children, elderly people," he added. No group has officially said it was responsible for the attack.

"Right now we have 95 dead civilians. The bodies are burned, we are continuing to look for others," a local official told AFP.