Mali Accuses Algeria of Shooting Down Surveillance Drone, Recalls Ambassador
Mali accused neighboring Algeria of shooting down one of its surveillance drones near their shared border in a statement read out by the security minister on national TV on Sunday.
The West African country and its allies Burkina Faso and Niger recalled their ambassadors from Algeria for consultations over the incident, a separate joint statement said on Sunday.
Mali said the drone wreckage was found 9.5 kilometers south of the border with Algeria after it was shot down in the night between March 31 and April 1.
The government said it had concluded 'with absolute certainty that the Malian Armed Forces drone was destroyed in a premeditated hostile action by the Algerian regime.'
The three Sahel countries said in their joint statement that they energetically condemned the 'irresponsible act by the Algerian regime.'
Algeria's Defense Ministry on April 1 said the army had shot down an 'armed surveillance drone' that violated the North African country's airspace near Tinzaouaten, a community that straddles the border, without providing further details.
Mali's army said in a statement at the time that one of its unmanned aircraft had crashed while on a routine surveillance mission.
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