Algeria and Mali restore diplomatic ties after a drone dispute
Algeria and Mali have agreed to reinstate their ambassadors and reopen the airspace between them to civilian and military flights, ending a diplomatic freeze that had lasted more than a year. Mali’s military government said it was taking reciprocal measures matching Algeria’s steps.
The rupture began in April 2025, when Algeria said it shot down a Malian surveillance drone that had violated its airspace; Bamako insisted the aircraft was destroyed over Malian territory. Both governments recalled ambassadors, and Mali’s allies in the Alliance of Sahel States followed.
The thaw matters beyond the two capitals because Algeria has historically brokered Mali’s talks with Tuareg separatists in the north — a mediating role it suspended during the standoff. Restoring ties reopens that channel at a time when the Malian government, now leaning on Russian security support, is fighting an intensifying insurgency across the Sahel.