Sahel alliance recalls ambassadors from Algeria over Malian drone downing

Alliance of Sahel States countries, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, said on Sunday they have recalled their respective ambassadors from Algeria.

The three countries in the military alliance, known by its French acronym AES, accused Algeria of downing a Malian armed forces surveillance drone about a week ago.

Amid escalating tensions between Bamako and Algiers, the group described the downing as an “irresponsible act” that violated international law.

Mali says the wreckage was located almost 10 kilometres south of their shared border, while Algeria says the armed drone had violated its airspace by over two kilometres.

Bamako also withdrew from a regional military group that includes fellow AES member Niger, and said it will file a complaint with “international bodies” about the incident.

The development comes as tensions are on the rise between Algeria and its southern neighbours.

The Sahel alliance was formed last year, after military leaders in the three countries quit the West African bloc, ECOWAS, to form their own security partnership.

Some analysts described it as an attempt to legitimise their military governments amid coup-related sanctions and strained relations with neighbours.

All three have cut ties with former colonial power, France, and are instead building partnerships with Russia.

Algeria once served as a key mediator in the more than decade-long conflict between Mali’s government and Tuareg rebels.

But the two countries have grown apart since a military junta staged coups in 2020 and 2021, putting military personnel in charge of Mali’s key institutions.

Algeria has denounced the direction that Mali’s new government has taken and its expanded efforts to quash rebellion in historically volatile parts of northern Mali.

Afraid of the conflict spilling over the border, Algiers has denounced Bamako’s use of Russian mercenaries and armed drones near Tin Zaouatine, a border town in the north were the drone was found.