Suspected Islamic extremists holding about 30 ethnic Dogon men hostage after bus raid, leader says

A community leader in central Mali says that suspected Islamic extremists are holding about 30 men hostage after an attack on several buses earlier this week. Bocar Guindo says that armed men initially kidnapped about 40 members of the ethnic Dogon community who had been traveling Tuesday between Koro and Bankass. He says the women aboard were later released. In central Mali, Dogon communities have been targeted for allegedly supporting the Malian army’s counterinsurgency efforts againt jihadis. A similar attack took place in 2021, when armed men identifying themelves as jihadis took dozens of people hostage in the same part of central Mali.