DAKAR, Senegal

At least 31 civilians were killed last week in an attack on a Fulani village in central Mali, the prime minister's office said Tuesday.

The attack took place in Ogossagou village in the Mopti region, authorities said on social media.

An operation by Malian armed forces continues in the region, the statement said.

According to local media, at least 48 people including five pregnant women were killed in the village.

Since 2015, there has been inter-communal violence in central Mali between the Fulani --traditionally herders -- and the Bambara and Dogon ethnic groups, who are mainly farmers.

In March 2019, some 160 Fulani were killed in the village of Ogossagou near the border with Burkina Faso.

Last June, 35 members of the Dogon ethnic group were killed in the village of Sobane Da and around 40 in the villages of Gangafani and Yoro.

But the area had witnessed a lull in the past six months following the signing in August of “cessation of hostilities” agreements by the different groups.