UPDATE - Algeria denies downing Malian drone in Mali’s airspace

ADDS MORE DETAILS, ALGERIA’S CLOSING OF ITS AIRSPACE, CHANGES DECK

By Hassen Djebril and Mohammad Sio

ALGIERS, Algeria/ISTANBUL (AA) – Algeria dismissed as “baseless” accusations by Mali that it shot down one of its drones in Malian territory near their shared border late last month.

In a statement Monday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry called the accusations “false claims” aimed at deflecting from the “catastrophic failure of Mali’s coup-driven project,” which it said had plunged the country into “insecurity, instability, ruin and deprivation.”

Algeria's Ministry of Defense also announced that it is closing the country’s airspace to all flights arriving from or heading to Mali following what it described as recurrent violations of Algerian airspace.

The ministry said the measure would take effect immediately.

Mali has not commented on Algeria’s decision.

Algeria’s Defense Ministry said last week that the country’s air defenses had downed an armed drone violating Algerian airspace near the border town of Tin Zaouatine, although it did not specify the country of origin of the drone.

On Sunday, Mali accused Algeria of shooting down one of its surveillance drones in Malian airspace.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry also expressed “deep displeasure” with statements made by Mali’s transitional government and a joint declaration from the Alliance of Sahel States’ leadership.

On Aug. 18, 2020, a group of Malian soldiers staged a military coup that ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

Less than a year later, on May 24, 2021, Colonel Assimi Goita, a key figure in the first coup, led another power grab — this time detaining transitional President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane.

Algeria also regretted Niger and Burkina Faso’s “unconsidered alignment” with Mali’s “flimsy arguments” and their “shameful, unjustified language” against Algiers.

It summoned its ambassadors from Mali and Niger for consultations and postponed the inauguration of its new envoy to Burkina Faso.

The three Sahel nations announced Sunday that they were recalling their ambassadors from Algeria.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry said all data related to the drone interception was "logged in the National Defense Ministry’s database, including radar images that clearly prove the violation of Algerian airspace.”

It said that two similar incidents had taken place in August and December last year.