Armed gunmen killed at least 23 people and wounded 12 in an attack on a village in central Mali, officials said Sunday.

Sidi Mohamed El Bechir, governor of the Bandiagara region where the attack took place, said unidentified men killed dozens of people and set fire to several homes in the village of Yarou on Friday.

“The assailants stayed in the village until 7 p.m. and burned down part of the village, smashed stores and took away the villagers’ cattle,” said Amadou Lougué, president of the regional youth organization, on Sunday. The attack has not been claimed.

Communities across central and northern Mali have been in the grips of protracted armed violence since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in the West African nation’s northern cities the following year, with the help of a French-led military operation. But they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies.(AP via VOA)