Algeria said it shot down a drone near the border with Mali as tensions occur between the two countries
Mali Bamako (AP) – Algeria said on Tuesday that tensions between the two countries, between most of the Sahara, shot down a military drone near the country's border with Mali in a similar incident.
The country's military said in a statement that armed reconnaissance drones entered Algerian airspace on Monday in Tin Zaouatine, a border town that was a stronghold for Tuareg separatists who opposed the Mali government. Mali's army admitted that one of its drones crashed in the area, but did not confirm whether it was shot down by Algeria.
Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based New Southern Policy Center, said shootings of drones (rather than warnings) reflect a slight sense of frustration.
He said it “confirmed the serious tensions between countries and Algeria’s reluctance and zero tolerance, allowing Mali troops to use their airspace and territory.”
The incident occurred when tensions intensified between Algeria and its southern neighbors, including Mali.
Algeria was once the main mediator for more than a decade between the Mali government and the Tuareg rebels. However, since the military junta coup held in 2020 and 2021, the two countries have separated, leaving military personnel responsible for the country's main institutions.
Algeria condemned the direction the new government took and its expanded efforts to cancel the insurgency in the historically volatile areas of northern Mali. Algerian officials feared the conflict overflowed on the border and condemned Mali's use of Russian mercenaries and armed drones near the Zaouatine, which separates the two countries.
But the instability of curbing instability in northern Mali led to the fall of the previous government, which Mali Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga solved in a speech at the UN General Assembly last year and promised a quick response to violence in the north.
Algeria is one of Africa's largest military forces and has long considered itself a regional force, but military leaders near Mali and Niger stand out in fostering autonomy and seek new alliances, including with Russia.
Algeria has not specified whose drones it intercepts. A spokesman for the Mali army declined to comment when asked about Algeria's allegations that an armed drone crossed the border, but said the crash did not hurt anyone or caused property damage.
Unverified videos circulating on social media show images of Akinci drone falling down by Baykar in Tin Zaouatine. Mali bought at least two from Turkish companies last year and used them with armed separatists and fighter jets related to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State Group.
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Associated Press writer Sam Metz in Rabat, Morocco contributed to the report.
