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Mali Army Redeploys to Symbolic Former Rebel Bastion

Agence France-Presse

   BAMAKO - Malian troops have begun deploying to the key northern town of
   Kidal, a senior army official said Monday, returning to an area that
   has long been a symbol of the government's lack of control over the
   north.

   The official, who requested anonymity, said soldiers had left the
   northern city of Gao and were on their way to Kidal. "There is no
   problem for now," he said.

   Rebels captured much of the West African state's north in 2012,
   including Kidal, triggering a war that has since been taken over by
   jihadists and spread to central Mali, neighboring Burkina Faso and
   Niger.

   The return of Malian troops to Kidal is considered a key component in
   implementing the 2015 Algiers peace agreement, struck between the
   government in Bamako and some rebel groups.

   Mali has struggled to contain the revolt, despite the presence of
   foreign troops.

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