Algeria and Mali each closed their airspace to flights from another country as a row of drones were shot down more and more escalating.
Mali accused its northern neighbors of being a sponsor and terrorist exporter after Algeria's attack on one of its drones last week without providing evidence.
Algeria was the first to ban flights to and from Mali, and then Mali later said it was in “reward” for all Algerian flights.
Mali's foreign ministry's strongly worded statement on Sunday challenged Algeria's previous explanation that the unmanned surveillance aircraft violated its airspace.
The statement describes the drone's descent as “hostile premeditated operation.” Algeria describes allegations about terrorism as “lack of seriousness [and they]…No attention or reaction is reserved.”
The armed forces in Mali are fighting the Tuareg separatists in the north. They have a stronghold in the town of Tinzaoutin, which crosses the Marigria border.
When Mali and its allies Niger and Burkina Faso recalled their ambassador Algiers, the shooting of the drone shot caused diplomatic tensions.
Last year, three countries led by politicians formed a regional group, the Alliance of the Sahel, known for its French acronym AES.
In a joint statement condemning Algeria, they said that shooting down drones “stops the neutralization of a terrorist organization that plans to target the AE’s terrorist acts.”
Mali also convened the Algerian ambassador's incident in Bamako and announced that it would file a complaint with “international agencies”. It also withdraws from regional security groups, including Algeria.
Algeria said in its response on Monday that it pointed to the “deep frustration” of the Marians and AES statements. It describes Mali's allegations as an attempt to divert attention from its own failure.
It also said this was the third violation of its airspace in recent months.
“The Algerian government has decided to close it to today's effective air traffic due to repeated violations of Mali's airspace,” the Algerian Ministry of Defense said on Monday.
Last Wednesday, Algeria admitted that it had shot down an “armed reconnaissance drone” approaching Tinzaoutin, who he said “infiltrated our airspace at a distance of 2 kilometers”.
But Bamako's military government denied that drones violated Algerian airspace. It said the wreckage of the plane was found 9.5 kilometers within its borders.
Algeria provided more details on Monday, saying the plane had entered the airspace “and then exited and then returned to the attack trajectory”.
Mali often accuses Algeria of providing asylum to Tuareg armed groups.
For more than a decade between Mali and the separatists, the North African state was once a key mediator. Their relationship has deteriorated since the military came to power in Bamako in 2020.
Algeria recently deployed troops on its borders to prevent the infiltration of armed and weapons by jihadist groups operating in Mali and other countries in the Sahel region of West Africa.
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