AT LEAST 26 people were killed when an armed group attacked a village in central Mali near the border with Burkina Faso, according to a government official.

In the latest violent attack in the conflict-torn region, the gunmen attacked villagers on Sunday evening as most of them worked on their farmlands in the village of Dembo, Moulaye Guindo, the mayor of Bankass town, where Dembo is located, said the following day.

Such attacks are becoming increasingly frequent in central Mali, while the country’s military junta also is struggling to contain violence in the northern region.