A group of gunmen who disguised themselves as traditional hunters have surrounded a Mali village and killed at least 134 Fulani herders, with pregnant women and children among the dead.

Key points: Pregnant women, children and the elderly were among those slain

Pregnant women, children and the elderly were among those slain The attack may have been in retaliation after an Al Qaeda-linked group killed 23 soldiers

The attack may have been in retaliation after an Al Qaeda-linked group killed 23 soldiers Jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State have exploited ethnic rivalries in Mali

It was the deadliest such attack of recent times in a region reeling from worsening ethnic and jihadist violence.

Moulaye Guindo, mayor of the nearby town of Bankass, said armed men, dressed as traditional Donzo hunters, encircled and attacked Ogossagou.

"We are provisionally at 134 bodies recovered by the gendarmes [military police]," Mr Guindo said.

He said another nearby Fulani village, Welingara, had also been attacked, causing "a number" of deaths, but he did not yet know how many.

Security sources said the dead included pregnant women, children and elderly people, and members of the greater Peuhl community who were in contact with survivors said that the village chief and his grandchildren were among the victims.

Graphic video obtained by The Associated Press shows the aftermath of Saturday's attack, with many victims burned inside their homes.

A small child's body is covered with a piece of fabric, and at one point an ID card is shown covered with blood.

Massacre an 'unspeakable act'

At least 55 people were wounded in the attack and the United Nations mission in Mali said it was "working to ensure the wounded were evacuated".

The armed attacks took place as a United Nations Security Council mission visited Mali seeking solutions to violence that killed hundreds of civilians last year and is spreading across West Africa's Sahel region.

Francois Delattre, the president of the council who spoke in Mali's capital on Saturday, condemned the massacre as an "unspeakable attack".

A Dogon hunter holding a rifle, pictured in Mali in 2010. The killings were carried out by a group of men who disguised themselves as traditional Dogon hunters. ( Supplied: J Drevet )

One Ogossagou resident, who asked not to be identified, said the attack appeared to be in retaliation, after an Al Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility for a raid last week that killed 23 soldiers.

That group said that raid was payback for violence by Mali's army and militiamen against the Fulani.

Jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State have exploited ethnic rivalries in Mali and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger in recent years to boost recruitment and render vast swathes of territory virtually ungovernable.

In December, Human Rights Watch had warned that "militia killings" of civilians in central and northern Mali were "spiralling out of control".

The group said the ethnic Dogon militia known as Dan Na Ambassagou and its leader had been linked to many of the atrocities and called for Malian authorities to prosecute the perpetrators.

The Fulani ethnic group are semi-nomadic, primarily Muslim and live in various West African nations.

The armed attacks took place as a United Nations Security Council mission visited Mali. ( Supplied: MINUSMA/Harandane Dicko )

Reuters/AP