Mali files lawsuit against Algeria at the International Court of Justice
The Malian government announced on Thursday that it had filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice against Algeria, over what it described as the deliberate destruction by the Algerian regime of a reconnaissance drone belonging to the Malian Defense and Security Forces months ago.
The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization of Mali clarified in a statement issued today that Malian authorities had sent several requests to their Algerian counterparts since April 6, 2025, but had received no response regarding evidence of the drone’s possible violation of Algerian airspace.
The statement accused Algeria of committing an aggressive act and a serious violation of international law, particularly the principle of the non-use of force enshrined in UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 and relevant provisions of the UN Charter, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, and the Non-Aggression and Collective Defense Pact.
The Malian government considered the incident part of a series of hostile and malicious acts, accusing Algeria of maintaining an unsound complicity” with armed terrorist groups.
The Malian government stressed “the urgent need for states sponsoring and exporting terrorism in the Sahel region to cease posing a threat to regional peace and security and to work in good faith to contribute to stability,” for the sake of “collective security and sustainable development”.
On April 6, 2025, the Malian authorities announced that they had filed a complaint with international bodies against the Algerian regime for committing acts of aggression, namely Algeria’s downing of a Malian military drone on the night of March 31 to April 1, 2025.
For its part, Algeria announced at the time that it had shot down an armed reconnaissance drone near the border town of Tin Zaouatine in the 6th Military Region, after it had violated airspace for a distance of 2 kilometers.
The Algerian Ministry of Defense stated in a briefing that an air defense unit was able to detect and shoot down the aircraft on April 1, 2025, around midnight.
It considered the downing of the drone to be in the context of efforts to protect national borders, while Mali confirmed that the aircraft was downed within its borders.
Following this tension, the two countries closed their airspace to each other and recalled their ambassadors.
