At least 48 civilians were killed and several others injured in an armed attack in northeastern Mali on Sunday, according to a statement issued by a local community organization.

Armed men riding motorcycles arrived in Tagadayat, in the Menaka region, and targeted civilians, the executive bureau of the Idaksahak community said in a statement published on Facebook on Monday.

The attack forced numerous families, including women, children and older people, to flee their homes and abandon their belongings as they sought refuge in the town of Menaka, the statement said.

The Idaksahak community lives primarily in northern Mali's Menaka, Gao and Kidal regions.

Mali has faced a prolonged security crisis since 2012, with armed insurgencies, attacks by extremist groups and intercommunal violence killing thousands of people and displacing hundreds of thousands more.

The latest attack underscores the continuing insecurity facing civilians in the country's north, where armed groups remain active and communities have repeatedly been forced to flee violence. (ILKHA)