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Beads and bobbles shine with colour on the headdress of 17-year-old Balkissa Maiga, a girl in the northern Malian town of Gao.

Headdresses like hers were traditionally worn in the area by elite figures on special occasions. However, strict limitations were placed on their use during the nine-month rule of radical Islamists in Gao, which only ended this January with the arrival of French and Malian troops.

. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Hally Bara is an artisan who makes the traditional Songhai and Tuareg headdresses.

Her business took a hit when the Islamist group MUJAO took over Gao last year and tried to stop women wearing this sort of headgear, saying it was not Islamic enough.

At the time, Bara went to a respected local imam, who negotiated with MUJAO to place limits on the wearing of headdresses. These included the stipulation that they must be removed during prayer and replaced with a plain, dark-coloured headscarf.

Bara says she lost almost all of her business during radical Islamist rule, but she hopes to gain it back now that French and Malian forces have taken control of Gao.

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Slideshow

Fourteen-year-old Fady Dicko wears a traditional Tuareg headdress crafted by Hally Bara.
. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Fourteen-year-old Fady Dicko wears a traditional Tuareg headdress crafted by Hally Bara.

Aminata Toure, 10, wears another of Bara's creations.
. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Aminata Toure, 10, wears another of Bara's creations.

She wears a traditional Songhai headdress.
. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

She wears a traditional Songhai headdress.

Fifteen-year-old Madinatou Soumailou Toure uses her phone while wearing one of the headpieces.
. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Fifteen-year-old Madinatou Soumailou Toure uses her phone while wearing one of the headpieces.

Nafissatou Toure, 7, wears another headdress.
. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Nafissatou Toure, 7, wears another headdress.

Beads adorn Fady Dicko's headdress.
. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Beads adorn Fady Dicko's headdress.

Balkissa Maiga, 17, wears a particularly colourful headpiece.
. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Balkissa Maiga, 17, wears a particularly colourful headpiece.

She looks up with the beads framing her face.
. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

She looks up with the beads framing her face.

Fatoumata Toure, 15, wears one of Bara's headdresses.
. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Fatoumata Toure, 15, wears one of Bara's headdresses.

Bara ties one of her headdresses around a girl's head.
. GAO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Bara ties one of her headdresses around a girl's head.