Algeria recalls envoy to France after ‘inadmissible interference’

Algeria’s government did not specify what prompted the recall of its ambassador, but it accused France of interfering in its internal affairs.

France’s jets regularly fly over Algerian territory to reach the Sahel region of western Africa, where its soldiers are helping to battle armed groups as part of its Barkhane operation.

“This morning when we filed flight plans for two planes, we learned that the Algerians had stopped flights over their territory by French military planes,” an army spokesman, Colonel Pascal Ianni, told AFP news agency.

 He said the decision “does not affect our operations or intelligence missions” carried out in the Sahel.

Algeria’s government and military were not immediately available for comment on the closure of airspace.