ALGIERS: Algeria said Friday it will oppose what it called a “shameless” complaint from Mali to the UN’s top court accusing it of downing a Malian army drone over Malian soil.
Algiers has said the drone was over its soil when it was hit earlier this year.
The foreign ministry described the complaint, which the International Court of Justice confirmed receiving on Friday, as “clearly an attempt to exploit this august judicial body of the United Nations.”
It said it will notify the court of its “refusal of this procedural ploy,” describing Mali’s move as “too crude to be credible.”
The ICJ said the case will not proceed “unless and until Algeria consents to the Court’s jurisdiction in the case.”
Mali said it had complained to the court after Algerian forces violated its airspace and downed the army drone in a “hostile act” on the night of March 31-April 1.
Algeria says its defense ministry radar data “clearly establish the violation of Algeria’s airspace” by the Malian reconnaissance drone.
The case has sparked a region-wide diplomatic spat, with Mali and allies Burkina Faso and Niger withdrawing their ambassadors from Algiers and Algeria responding in kind.
Further fallout has seen Bamako and Algiers mutually close their airspace to one another, and Mali has accused its northern neighbor of helping to foment regional “terrorism.”
In January last year, Mali’s ruling junta announced the termination of a 2015 peace accord with Tuareg rebels which had been mediated by Algiers, citing Algerian “hostility.”
Algeria rejects Mali ICJ complaint over drone downing
https://arab.news/rug6t
Algeria rejects Mali ICJ complaint over drone downing
- Algiers has said the drone was over its soil when it was hit earlier this year
- The ICJ said the case will not proceed “unless and until Algeria consents to the Court’s jurisdiction in the case“
UN peacekeepers say Israeli forces fired on them in southern Lebanon
- “Yesterday, peacekeepers in vehicles patrolling the Blue Line were fired upon by IDF soldiers in a Merkava tank,” UNIFIL said
- It said that both the peacekeepers and the Israeli tank were in Lebanese territory
BEIRUT: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Wednesday that Israeli forces fired on its peacekeepers a day earlier in the country’s south, urging Israel’s army to “cease aggressive behavior.”
It is the latest such incident reported by the peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, where UNIFIL acts as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon and has been working with Lebanon’s army to support a year-old truce between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
“Yesterday, peacekeepers in vehicles patrolling the Blue Line were fired upon by IDF (Israeli army) soldiers in a Merkava tank,” a UNIFIL statement said, referring to the de facto border.
“One ten-round burst of machine-gun fire was fired above the convoy, and four further ten-round bursts were fired nearby,” the statement said.
It said that both the peacekeepers and the Israeli tank were in Lebanese territory at the time of the incident and that the Israeli military had been informed of the location and timing of the peacekeeping patrol in advance.
“Peacekeepers asked the IDF to stop firing through UNIFIL’s liaison channels... Fortunately, no one was injured,” it said.
Last month UNIFIL said Israeli soldiers shot at its troops in the south, while Israel’s military said it mistook blue helmets for “suspects” and fired warning shots.
In October, UNIFIL said one of its members was wounded by an Israeli grenade dropped near a UN position in the country’s south, the third incident of its kind in just over a month.
“Attacks on or near peacekeepers are serious violations of (UN) Security Council Resolution 1701,” UNIFIL said on Wednesday, referring to the 2006 resolution that formed the basis of the November 2024 truce.
“We call on the IDF to cease aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers working to rebuild stability along the Blue Line,” the peacekeepers said.
Israel carries out regular attacks on Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting sites and operatives belonging to Hezbollah, which it accuses of rearming.
It has also kept troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.
On Saturday, a UN Security Council delegation visiting Lebanon urged all parties to uphold the ceasefire.
It emphasized that the “safety of peacekeepers must be respected and that they must never be targeted,” after gunmen on mopeds attacked UNIFIL personnel last week.
