THE alliance between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger withdrew their respective ambassadors from Algeria in response to the downing of a Malian drone last week, the group said on Sunday.

The Alliance of Sahel States, which goes by its French acronym AES, blamed Algeria on social media for the drone’s downing and condemned it as an “irresponsible act” that violated international law.

The act was “contrary to historical relations and fraternal relations between the peoples of the AES confederation and the Algerian people,” the alliance said.