Mali troops return to key northern city after six-year absence

FILE PHOTO: Members of MINUSMA Chadian contingent patrol in Kidal, Mali December 17, 2016. Picture taken December 17, 2016. MINUSMA/Sylvain Liechti handout via REUTERS

BAMAKO (Reuters) - More than 200 Malian troops reached the northern city of Kidal on Thursday, the army said, in the military's first permanent deployment there since being chased out by Tuareg separatist rebels in 2014.

Photos shared by the U.N.'s peacekeeping mission showed state governor Sidi Mohamed Ag Ichrach welcoming the army convoy to Kidal, the epicentre of repeated rebellions by semi-nomadic Tuaregs seeking an independent state called Azawad.