• At least 32 people killed by criminal gang that set fire to their homes in Madagascar.
• Women and children among the victims of attack in Ankazobe district north of capital Antananarivo.
• Defence minister blames cattle rustlers known locally as “dahalo”.

Army helicopters have been deployed in Madagascar to search for a criminal gang that set fire to at least 32 people’s homes, killing at least 32 people.

According to the police, the people were forced inside three thatched houses, which were then set ablaze.

Women and children were among those killed in Friday’s attack in Ankazobe, a district north of Antananarivo.

The defence minister blamed cattle rustlers known as “dahalo” in the region.

Cattle theft – and efforts to stop it – have resulted in extremely violent clashes in recent years.

Footage from Ambolotarakely, a village on a small hill in Ankazobe district, showed homes that had been burned to the ground, with only parts of the walls remaining.

When the minister of defence visited the area after the attack, he said he suspected the community had been targeted because it had provided information to officials during a previous security operation against the gang.

“We will pursue those who committed this crime as well as their accomplices,” said Gen Richard Rakotonirina.

He also paid visits to those in the hospital, three of whom are still in critical condition.

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