Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune says he’s open to helping mediate the ongoing conflict between Mali’s military rulers and rebel groups in the country’s north, but only if Mali formally asks for assistance.
Speaking to the national press corps on Friday, Tebboune addressed rising tensions between Algeria and its southern neighbor. He made it clear that while Algeria is ready to step in as a mediator, he strongly opposes the presence of foreign mercenary forces along the 1,400-kilometre border the two countries share.
Mali’s ruling military junta has been locked in a renewed conflict with the CMA, a coalition of Tuareg separatists and Arab nationalist fighters, since 2023. That same year, Mali withdrew from a peace agreement brokered by Algeria, following violent clashes between CMA rebels and Malian forces supported by Russian Africa Corps mercenaries, formerly known as Wagner.
Despite Algeria’s close ties to Russia, Tebboune stressed that his government would not tolerate the deployment of Russian mercenaries near its frontier. “We won’t accept mercenaries on our borders,” he stated firmly.
Tensions between the two nations have continued to escalate. Bamako accuses Algiers; home to its own Tuareg communities, of providing safe haven to militants who cross the border and launch attacks in Mali. The two countries have also traded accusations of conducting cross-border drone strikes in recent months.
The withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA from Mali in 2023 left a security vacuum in the north, which Mali’s transitional government has tried to fill with Russian-backed forces.
For now, Tebboune’s message is clear; Algeria is willing to help bring peace to Mali, but not at the cost of its own sovereignty or regional stability.
