Faith Nyasuguta
When Mali filed a case at the International Court of Justice this week, it marked one of the most dramatic legal showdowns yet in the Sahara. The transitional government in Bamako accuses its northern neighbor Algeria of committing outright aggression by shooting down a Malian reconnaissance drone earlier this year. The incident, Mali argues, was not just a technical matter of airspace but a direct attempt to cripple its fight against insurgent groups in the desert north.
The case stems from events that unfolded between the night of March 31 and April 1 near Tinzaouaten, a remote town straddling the frontier between Mali’s Kidal region and southern Algeria. According to Malian officials, one of its Turkish-made Bayraktar Akinci drones was flying inside Malian territory when it was targeted and destroyed by Algerian forces. The strike, Bamako insists, was deliberate and aimed at hindering operations against jihadist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State.
“This blatant aggression, which the government strongly denounces, was clearly intended to obstruct the neutralisation of armed terrorist groups by the Malian Armed Forces,” the transitional authorities declared in a statement. They added that it represented the culmination of “a series of hostile acts” previously raised with Algiers.
Mali’s argument leans heavily on international law, claiming Algeria’s actions violate the principle of the non-use of force between states. Officials say they repeatedly asked Algerian authorities to provide evidence that the drone had strayed into Algerian airspace but received no response. By bringing the case to The Hague, Mali hopes to secure not just legal redress but also a global spotlight on what it views as Algeria’s obstructionism.
Algeria, however, tells a different story. Its army maintains that radar systems tracked the Malian drone as it crossed at least two kilometers into Algerian skies near Tin Zaouatine. According to their account, the shootdown was a defensive act carried out in line with national security protocols. Officials further argue that the craft was not just a surveillance drone but an armed system capable of carrying munitions, making the violation even more serious.
The dispute has already strained diplomatic ties. In April, Algeria banned flights to and from Mali, citing repeated violations of its airspace. Mali, joined by its allies Burkina Faso and Niger, retaliated by recalling ambassadors from Algiers. What was once a pragmatic if uneasy relationship between the two Sahelian neighbors has unraveled into open hostility.
The downed drone carries additional weight in Bamako’s calculations. It was the last operational Akinci in Mali’s fleet, a tool central to counterinsurgency campaigns across the Sahel. Losing it not to rebels but to a neighboring state only deepened the sting.
Beyond the courtroom, the case reflects shifting sands in West African geopolitics. Algeria once acted as a mediator in Mali’s peace deals with Tuareg separatists, but since Mali’s 2020 and 2021 coups, Bamako has leaned heavily toward Moscow, sidelining Algiers. Now, instead of mediation, the two are locked in confrontation – one drone at the heart of a widening rift.
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