LOC02:11
23:11 GMT
ALGIERS, April 7 (KUNA) -- Algeria and Mali on announced Monday that they will close their airspace to each other as the row over Algeria's downing of a Malian drone escalates.
In a press statement, the Algerian National Defense Ministry said they decided to close its airspace to flights arriving from or departing to the State of Mali as of today due to the repeated violation of the Algerian airspace by Malian drones.
"As at least two similar incidents have been recorded in the past few months. The first was recorded on August 27, 2024, and the second on December 29, 2024," it pointed out.
The Algerian ministry said that it possesses all the data documenting these two violations.
Algeria also announced today that it had decided to recall its ambassadors to Mali and Niger and postpone the dispatching of a new ambassador to Burkina Faso after the three countries recalled their envoys to Algeria in solidarity with Mali.
The Algerian government expressed "deep regret for the ill-considered bias of both Niger and Burkina Faso toward the flimsy arguments put forward by Mali," following Bamako's accusation that Algeria shot down one of its drones in northern Mali, near the shared border, at the end of March.
For its part, the Malian authorities announced later today the closure of the country's airspace to all civilian and military aircraft heading to or from Algeria, effective today and until further notice.
The Malian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure said that "the decision was taken as a reciprocal measure and in response to the Algerian government's decision to close its airspace to air traffic coming from or to Mali."
On Sunday, Mali described Algeria's downing of the drone as a "hostile premeditated action".
Mali has also summoned the Algerian ambassador in Bamako over the incident, declaring that it would file a complaint with "international bodies". It also withdrew from a regional security grouping that includes Algeria.
Last week, Algeria acknowledged that it had shot down a Malian drone after it penetrated its airspace over a distance of 2 km.
Mali, however, denied that the drone had violated Algeria's airspace. It said that the aircraft's wreckage was found 9.5 km inside its borders. (end)
mr.ibi