"The jihadists shot at villagers three kilometers from Diallassagou. The provisional toll is 18 dead and 21 injured," a resident told AFP, confirmed by other local residents. The attack was also confirmed by a police source and a local political official, who for their part gave a toll of 19 dead and blamed "terrorists" and "armed men". "We confirm the facts. The terrorists killed civilians in Diallassagou yesterday [Saturday] in cold blood. There are 19 dead and 21 injured. They accused the civilians of being accomplices of the Malian army," a police source told AFP. A political official from Bandiagara, about 60 kilometers from Diallassagou, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said that "unidentified armed men killed 19 peasants in their fields", adding that "all the victims are displaced populations settled in Diallassagou" and that the governor of the region was asked to "ensure the protection of the populations". More than 130 civilians were killed in Diallassagou in June 2022, a massacre described at the time as one of the worst in Mali in recent years. The Malian government blamed the massacre on the Katiba Macina group, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, which denied any responsibility. Mali, a poor country and an enclave in the heart of the Sahel, has been plunged into a crisis since the outbreak of separatist and jihadist insurrections in the north of the territory in 2012. The military took power in a coup d'état in 2020 and broke their military alliance with France, the former colonial power, to move closer to Russia. Read Also: Cabo Delgado. Government of Mozambique thanks support from partners (Portuguese version)