Sahel alliance recall ambassadors from Algeria after drone downing
A military alliance of Sahel states have recalled their ambassadors from neighboring Algeria after a Malian drone was shot down by Algeria, escalating tensions between the two.
Reported by The Associated Press on April 7th, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in a joint statement said they were withdrawing their ambassadors and blamed Algeria on social media for the downing of the Malian drone.
Arguing that it violated international law, the Sahel alliance condemned it as an “irresponsible act” which was “contrary to historical relations and fraternal relations between the peoples of the AES confederation and the Algerian people.”
Maghrebi has previously reported on the downing of the drone after the Algerian army issued a statement that they have had shot down an armed reconnaissance drone over Tin Zaouatine, a border town that is a stronghold for the Tuareg separatist group.
The downing of the drone has exacerbated these already deteriorated relations with Malian Prime Minister General Abdoulaye Maiga saying “this action proves, if proof was needed, that the Algerian regime sponsors international terrorism.”
The Malian military junta has accused Algeria of supporting the Tuareg separatists who they define as “terrorists.”
The Tuareg people are an indigenous Berber group from the Sahara, found in southern Algeria and northern Mali and Niger who are calling for independence and autonomy in the region. The Malian government have accused Algeria of supporting the group, interfering in Malian internal affairs and using them as a “tool for its international positioning.”
Algeria have been a consistent actor in Mali, taking on mediation roles between the Tuareg and the Malian government, but since the military coup in Mali four years ago, the relationship has deteriorated drastically.
Mali’s junta announced in January 2024 the Algiers Peace Agreement signed back in 2015 would be immediately terminated – an agreement considered crucial for stability in the region.
However, Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the latest war of words was unlikely to escalate beyond that. He doubted the Malian government’s ability to conduct a thorough investigation because the crash “took place in an area it doesn’t control, and what remains of the drone has been recovered by groups opposed to the government.”
The Associated Press, Maghrebi
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