Algeria, Mali mend ties after year-long drone rift
Both governments announced on Friday that they would reverse the retaliatory measures imposed over the past 15 months, immediately reopening their airspace to military and civilian flights while preparing to redeploy diplomatic envoys.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries had been suspended since April 2025, after Mali accused Algeria of shooting down one of its reconnaissance drones in Malian airspace, News.Az reports, citing RFI.
Algerian defence officials said the aircraft had strayed into Algeria’s airspace near the border, a claim Mali’s military government denied.
Mali, joined by its Sahel allies Niger and Burkina Faso, withdrew their ambassadors from Algeria over what they called an “act of aggression towards the entire confederal space”.
Algeria then closed its airspace to flights to and from Mali and recalled its ambassadors from Mali and Niger, describing the allegations as “serious and unfounded”.
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