Sahel alliance recalls ambassadors from Algeria after the downing of a Malian drone

A military alliance between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger has withdrawn their respective ambassadors from Algeria in response to the downfall of a Malian drone this week, the group said late Sunday.

The Alliance of Sahel states, which go through its French acronym Aes, blamed Algeria on social media for the downing of the drone and condemned it as an ‘irresponsible act’ that violated international law.

The act was “in contrast to historical relationships and fraternal relationships between the people of the AES Confederation and the Algerian population,” the group said.

The Malian Foreign Ministry in a statement on social media on Sunday denied the Algerian government that the drone had violated the airspace of Algeria by more than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) and instead claimed that “this action proved, if proof is necessary, that the Algerian regime is sponsoring international terrorism.”

In the statement, Mali also called up the Algerian ambassador, withdrew from a 15-year-old local military group that included fellow Aes member Niger, and filed a complaint with “international bodies” over the incident.

The incident comes as the tension between Algeria and its southern neighbors, including Mali, rises.

Algeria once served as an important mediator for more than a decade of conflict between Mali’s government and Tuareg rebels. But the two countries have grown apart since a military junta performed coups in 2020 and 2021, which has military staff in charge of the most important Mali institutions.

Algeria has exposed the direction Mali’s new government has taken, and its extensive efforts to end rebellion in historically volatile parts of northern Mali. Algerian officials are afraid that the conflict has spilled over the border, the use of Russian mercenaries and armed drones near Tin Zaouatine, a border town in the north, the drone was found.

Algeria has one of Africa’s greatest militarically and has long regarded itself as a regional power, but military leaders in neighboring Mali and Niger distanced themselves for proposing autonomy and sought new alliances, including Russia.