Mali's junta leader announced on Tuesday that the army had recaptured the strategic northern town of Kidal, a stronghold of Tuareg-dominated separatist groups that has long posed a major sovereignty issue for the government.
The capture of Kidal, if confirmed, would be a considerable symbolic success for the ruling junta, which seized power in 2020.
"Today our armed and security forces have seized Kidal," Colonel Assimi Goita said in a statement read by a presenter during a special news flash on state television.
"The (Malian Armed Forces) took up position in the town of Kidal this Tuesday," the general staff had earlier said in a statement on social media.
'End of an episode'
A senior official of the Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), an alliance of predominantly Tuareg armed groups, appeared to acknowledge the loss of Kidal.
"We are continuing our fight for the honour and dignity of our people with greater determination. This is the end of an episode, but the series has just begun," he said on condition of anonymity.
The army "may have arrived in Kidal, but nobody can see them. There's been no fighting. They're only bombing with drones and fighter jets," he added.
The extent of the army's control on the ground remained unclear. The authorities did not release any images.
Left town
Two officers told AFP on condition of anonymity that the rebels had left the town when the soldiers entered.
Another officer said the army controlled the airstrip and a camp recently evacuated by the UN stabilisation mission, MINUSMA.
The gathering of and verifying information is complicated by the impossibility of gaining access to the terrain.
On Friday, separatist rebels had the telephone network cut off as the army advanced towards the town.
Army's determination
The army and the state have for years been virtually absent from the town, which has been controlled by the predominantly Tuareg armed groups.
The junta has long signalled its determination to retake the key town.
The insubordination of the Kidal region, where the army suffered humiliating defeats between 2012 and 2014, was a source of irritation for the government in the capital, Bamako.
Mali's current military leaders have made the restoration of territorial sovereignty their mantra.
Deadly clashes
The state had until now barely regained a foothold in Kidal since May 2014, when its armed forces were driven out after a visit by then-prime minister Moussa Mara led to clashes with the predominantly Tuareg rebels.
The fighting left many soldiers dead.
More recently, as the army advanced towards Kidal -- a historic centre of independence insurgencies and a crossroads on the road to Algeria -- many of the town's tens of thousands of residents fled, according to social networks.
The army called for calm. It said it had taken steps to ensure the safety of the residents, whom it asked to obey soldiers.
'Mission not over'
A large military column stationed since early October in the village of Anefis, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) south of Kidal, set off last weekend in its direction.
Supported by air assets, it encountered battles along the way. The junta leader spoke of "heavy losses" inflicted on the enemy.
"Our mission is not over. I remind you that it consists in recovering and securing the integrity of the territory", he said.
Violence has escalated in the north of Mali since August, with the military, rebels and insurgents vying for control as the UN mission evacuates its camps, triggering a race to seize territory.
UN withdrawal
The rebels do not want the peacekeepers to hand their camps back to the Malian army, saying it would contravene previously agreed ceasefire and peace deals struck with the government.
When MINUSMA left its camp in Kidal on October 31, the rebels immediately seized control.
Since July, the UN mission has withdrawn nearly 6,000 civilian and uniformed personnel, after the ruling junta demanded the mission depart from Mali.
The deadline for withdrawal, set by the UN Security Council, is December 31.
