[Source: BBC]

Army helicopters have been deployed in Madagascar to search for a criminal gang that killed at least 32 people by setting fire to their homes.

The police said the people were forced inside three thatched houses that were then set ablaze.

Women and children were among the victims of Friday’s attack in Ankazobe district north of the capital, Antananarivo.

The defence minister blamed cattle rustlers known locally as “dahalo”.

Cattle theft – and the efforts to stop it – have led to extremely violent confrontations in recent years.