Gunmen kill 41 people in central Mali - mayor

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen on motorbikes attacked two villages in central Mali, killing at least 41 people in a part of the country where ethnic reprisal attacks have surged in recent months, a local mayor said on Tuesday.

Issiaka Ganame, the mayor of Yoro, said 24 people had been killed on Monday evening in Yoro and 17 more in the village of Gangafani 2.

The victims were mostly ethnic Dogons, Ganame said. Dozens of Dogon civilians have been killed in recent months in tit-for-tat clashes with the rival Fulani community.

(Reporting By Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Kevin Liffey)