A/HRC/25/72 According to the provisional official results of the second round, announced on Tuesday 17 December by the Minister for Territorial Administration, the presidential party, the Rassemblement pour le Mali (RPM), and its allies had an absolute majority. B. The security challenge in the north 15. Scarcely a month and a half after the presidential election, the armed groups reorganized and resumed their destabilizing activities with a series of attacks aimed at military and civilian targets. Clashes between MNLA and the Malian armed forces also resumed, with at least five incidents in September alone, resulting in the deaths of 18 MNLA and Malian army combatants. No civilian victims were reported. Another major incident took place on 8 November 2013 in the village of Egazargane, in the Gao region, resulting in the deaths of three MNLA members and three wounded. 16. The threat of improvised explosive devices remains high, with five incidents reported in July 2013. Two such devices were found and defused on 27 and 29 July near the village of Aguelhok, north of Kidal, by French soldiers of Operation Serval. 17. The independent expert travelled to Kidal on 26 October 2013 and met there with MINUSMA, MNLA and HCUA, as well as organizations of civil society, having previously held a working meeting in Bamako with the Governor of Kidal, who was there in connection with his participation in the national consultations on decentralization. At the time of the independent expert’s visit, the situation in Kidal, where Tuareg rebellions have broken out repeatedly since independence, remained fragile and was characterized by a weak State presence and limited State control over the region. 18. MNLA continued to occupy the governorate and most of the public buildings in the town. It also controlled the regional stations of the Mali Radio and Broadcasting Office, which it regularly used to disseminate messages fomenting hatred and violence. 19. On 14 November 2013, the restitution by MNLA of the governorate of Kidal, the official residence of the Governor and Kidal’s ORTM radio station appeared to indicate a willingness of the groups involved to find peaceful solutions for the restoration of State authority. However, MNLA and HCUA still occupy other State buildings, including the regional assembly, the youth centre and the prison. 20. On 14 December 2013, a vehicle loaded with explosives was used to launch an attack on a MINUSMA troop transport vehicle parked in front of the bank of Kidal. The car transporting the assailants reportedly crashed into the MINUSMA vehicle, which had stopped to relieve the guards of the bank’s outer perimeter; soldiers of the Malian army were guarding the inner perimeter. The toll was two dead and three wounded MINUSMA soldiers and three wounded Malian soldiers. The bank and a school across from the bank sustained heavy damage. 21. On the evening of 16 December 2013, three explosions were heard in the vicinity of the MINUSMA base at Kidal. According to reports, artillery or mortar shells were fired at positions held by MINUSMA peacekeepers and landed nearby, without harming MINUSMA personnel or damaging MINUSMA equipment. C. The challenge of the restoration of State authority 22. The independent expert found that during the occupation of the north by armed groups, the authority of the State had weakened considerably in the regions of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu, as well as in part of the regions of Mopti and Ségou. Despite the liberation 6 GE.14-10118