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Following the pattern of 2024, 2025 begins with a new war of words between Mali and Algeria. The transitional government in Bamako has expressed its anger at the latest statement made on December 30 by the Algerian Foreign Minister regarding the situation in this Sahelian country.
«A military solution is impossible in the Sahel and Sahara, particularly in Mali, as it has been attempted three times in the past and failed», stated Ahmed Attaf. He also advocated for opposition movements, refusing to label them as «terrorist groups», arguing that they had signed the Algiers Accords in 2015.
These remarks were strongly denounced by the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. «Clearly, the undeniable successes of Mali's armed and security forces, as well as the pressure exerted on terrorist groups supported by Algeria, are difficult to accept for certain Algerian officials nostalgic for a bygone era», stated the department led by Abdoulaye Diop yesterday in a press release.
Mali «condemns with the utmost vigor this new interference by Algeria in Malian internal affairs [...] and reminds that strategic options for fighting armed terrorist groups, supported by foreign state sponsors, fall exclusively under Mali's sovereignty».
Bamako refuses to take lessons from Algiers
The ministry specifies that «Mali neither seeks nor accepts lessons from Algeria, which has conducted, in the recent past, its own sovereign fight against terrorism». It invites Algeria to «refocus its energy on resolving its own internal crises and contradictions, including the Kabyle question, and to stop using Mali as a lever for its international positioning».
Since the Malian authorities' withdrawal from the Algiers Accords, announced on January 25, 2024, verbal exchanges between the two neighboring countries have been frequent.
The latest occurred in September during the 79th UN General Assembly session. Malian Minister of State, Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, accused Algiers of providing «shelter and sustenance to terrorists and renegades in disarray». At the Security Council, Morocco had supported the Malian accusations.
