A turning point for Mali’s army fighting Tuareg rebels?

Last week, Mali’s army seized Kidal, a key town in the country’s north that the ethnic Tuareg rebels have held for nearly a decade.

Kidal has been a bastion for an ethnic Tuareg rebel group at the centre of the country’s long-running political and security crises.

The army, reportedly backed by Wagner group mercenaries, took control of Kidal after battling for several days. This came after the town was vacated by the UN peacekeepers known as Minusma (Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali).

The Malian army later revealed that it had uncovered a mass grave in Kidal during the operation.

The BBC’s Beverly Ochieng explains why the region is important.