Insurgent groups join forces to seize key Mali city

Mali (MNN) – Kidal, a strategic city in northern Mali, has been captured by radical fighters, and the country’s defense minister has been killed. Several other key cities were also targeted in the coordinated assaults.Mali Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga is encouraging citizens "not to give in to panic."The attackers were al-Qaeda-linked Islamists and Tuareg separatists – two distinct groups united in their goal to destabilize the government.Flag of Mali (Stock photo courtesy of Aboodi Vesakaran