At least seven people were killed Sunday in an attack in central Mali, the local diocese and a civil society organisation told AFP.

The “terrorist attack” in Segue village killed a relative of a cleric and six other men, the diocese of the Mopti region said.

The assault also caused “a lot of property damage”, said the statement signed by diocese secretary and priest Daniel Camille Togo.

A civil society group said it was “shocked to learn of the terrorist attack” Sunday which hit both Segue and Sonfounou villages.

“The toll of this deadly attack has risen to nine deaths, seven in Segue and two in Sonfounou,” said the Patriotic Movement for the Unity and Safeguarding of the Bankass Cercle — part of Mopti region.

“The clinic, the village pharmacy and the ambulance were set on fire, the private car of the mayor (of Segue) burned and multiple motorbikes taken away,” the organisation said in a statement.

It was not possible for AFP to verify the tolls with Mali authorities or independent sources.

Mali is battling a political, security and economic crisis and has been ravaged by Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group factions since 2012. It also faces a separatist insurgency in the volatile desert north.