A delegation of the Coordination of Azawad Movements is seen in Kidal on February 11, 2021. - Signatories to a shaky peace deal deemed vital for ending conflict in Mali met on Thursday in the northern city of Kidal, a former rebel bastion, an AFP journalist said. 
The city fell to Tuareg separatists in 2012, who captured much of the north of the Sahel state before jihadist groups commandeered their rebellion.
Islamist fighters have since expanded the conflict into central Mali as well as neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, killing thousands. (Photo by Souleymane AG ANARA / AFP) (Photo by SOULEYMANE AG ANARA/AFP via Getty Images)