Mali soldiers, armed groups hold first joint patrol in northern town

by Dramelin 8:30 AM 0 comments

GAO, Mali Malian soldiers staged their first joint patrol on Thursday with members of rival armed groups in the town of Gao where Islamist militants killed more than 77 people last month in the deadliest such attack in the country`s history.
A French-led military intervention in 2013 pushed insurgent groups back from northern Mali - a vast desert area they had taken the year before - but Islamist militants still conduct frequent attacks there.
The long-awaited patrol is part of an initiative aimed at easing local tensions so that government forces can focus on fighting the militants.
More such patrols are due over the next few weeks under the terms of a 2015 U.
N.
-brokered peace deal.
Hundreds of soldiers from Mali`s army, France`s operation Barkhane, the U.
N.
peacekeeping mission, the Tuareg separatist Coordination of Azawad Movements and pro-government militias took part in the patrol, a Reuters witness said.