There was no coordination with Algeria before carrying out these drone strikes ordered by the Malian army last Sunday, which put the Algerian military air force on alert. Wounded Malians crossed the border to seek treatment in Algeria.
The recent instability in Mali, due to the conflict over the self-determination of Azawad – a term used by the separatists – has plunged Algeria into a difficult situation. Fearing the repercussions for its security, it has fortified its borders and deployed more troops on the border with Mali, as well as with Libya and Morocco.
According to researchers, what irritates Algiers the most is that the junta in Bamako, to fuel its war in the north, has called on an informal coalition made up of countries all with designs on the Sahel region: Turkey, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco.
However, Algiers has always opposed foreign interference in African countries as well as the presence of mercenaries. This is the case with Libya where it has been confronted with the presence of Wagner’s groups since 2016.
According to Akram Kharief, journalist and researcher at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, “this displayed hostility is also related to the presence of Wagner in Libya”. Even if, adds the researcher, “this is not the first time that Algeria has made a hostile statement to Wagner, foreign mercenaries, and the military junta in Mali.” There was the statement by President Tebboune, he recalls.
At the end of December 2022, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune told Le Figaro that “the money that this presence costs would be better placed and more useful if it went into development in the Sahel”.
