French troops in Mali take Kidal, last Islamist holdout

 

French forces earlier took the historic Malian city of Timbuktu

Mali: Divided nation

French forces have secured the northern Malian town of Kidal, the last main stronghold of Islamist rebels in the region, military officials say.

Militant Islamist fighters had already left the town, near the Algerian border, and are believed to be hiding in the surrounding mountains.
The capture of Kidal came days after French and Malian forces retook the provincial capitals Gao and Timbuktu.
Kidal official Haminy Maiga said the French troops had met no resistance.
"The French arrived aboard four planes," said, Mr Maiga, who heads the regional assembly.
"They took the airport and then entered the town, and there was no combat. The French are patrolling the town and two helicopters are patrolling overhead."
Earlier, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said a sandstorm had delayed the troops from leaving the airport and entering the town.
Islamist militants extended their control of the vast north of Mali in April 2012, taking advantage of a military coup.
France - the former colonial power in Mali - launched a military operation this month after the militants appeared to be threatening the south.
The BBC's Thomas Fessy in Timbuktu says the capture of Kidal marks the end of the first phase of the military operation to oust militants from northern Mali.

France is now expecting the deployment of thousands of African forces to support the second phase - driving the al-Qaeda-linked fighters from their desert hideouts.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that France intended to leave Mali "quickly", and it was up to African countries to take over.
Several hundred soldiers from West African countries - including Niger and Chad - are already in Mali.
Our correspondent says French forces who entered Kidal found members of the secular National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) there.
The Tuareg rebels launched the insurgency last year before breaking away from the militants.
Their presence in Kidal explains why government troops have not yet been sent to the town, our correspondent adds.