Bamako, Feb 18, 2020 – A Malian army battalion comprising regulars and former rebels has entered the northern city of Timbuktu, the army said Tuesday, as part of a long-anticipated peace deal in the war-torn country. The move follows the return last week of similar units to the northern town of Kidal, which was emblematic of Mali’s lack of control over the restive north of the West African country. Rebels captured much of the region in 2012, triggering a war that has since been taken over by jihadists and has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians. But a 2015 peace deal brokered in Algiers between some armed groups and the Malian government provided for rebels joining the army again.
The deal’s implementation has taken years. However, the accord is seen as one of few escape routes from Mali’s cycle of violence. The troops that returned to Kidal last week were a mix of regulars and former rebels, as called for under the Algiers agreement. A similar joint battalion took up positions in Timbuktu on Tuesday, although army regulars were already stationed in the historic city. “Three hundred have come for the moment, they’re in the camp with us,” said Colonel Boubacar Sanogoh, the military commander for the Timbuktu region, referring to the new units. Other such units are expected to deploy in northern Malian cities such as Menaka and Gao.
