s risk upending the divided nation's fragile peace, particularly given instability in the rebel stronghold of Kidal and the other northern cities of Menaka, Gao, and Timbuktu. In addition, the results of rushed and ill-prepared elections risk being highly contested, and this could escalate into post-el

mber, crossing into the central part of Mali and closer to the government-held south-west. In November they say they and al-Qaeda fighters capture Menaka, a town on the border with Niger, from the Azawad Tuareg rebels. 2012 November - The West African regional grouping Ecowas agrees to launch a coord