Malian Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga, whose country accuses Algeria of shooting down a drone over its territory, called on Algiers on Friday to "stop supporting international terrorism."

Malian Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga, whose country accuses Algeria of shooting down a drone over its territory, called on Algiers on Friday to "stop supporting international terrorism" during his address at the UN.

"In adversity, we will not be spectators. For every bullet fired at us, we will respond in kind. For every misused word, we will respond in kind," the Malian official warned of the crisis pitting him against his neighbor.

Since April 1, the Sahelian state has accused Algeria of shooting down a Malian army drone over its territory, which allegedly constituted a violation of its airspace. Algeria has rejected these accusations, claiming that radar data from its Ministry of Defense established, on the contrary, "the violation of Algerian airspace" by a reconnaissance drone from Mali. The episode has given rise to a diplomatic crisis between the two border countries, which have recalled their respective ambassadors and each closed its airspace to the other.

"Proximity to terrorist groups"

"We call on the Algerian junta to stop supporting international terrorism and to become resolutely involved in promoting peace and security," Abdoulaye Maïga continued at the UN.

Mali accuses its large northern neighbor, with which relations have steadily deteriorated in recent years, of maintaining "proximity to terrorist groups," particularly in the border region.

Since 2012, Mali has been facing a profound security crisis fueled in particular by violence from groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) organization, as well as community-based criminal groups. This crisis is compounded by a serious economic crisis.

The Malian junta, led by General Assimi Goïta, had pledged to hand over power to civilians by March 2024, but has since failed to keep this promise.