17 January – A Spanish national is abducted in the south of the country by a "transnational mafia". He is subsequently located in neighboring Mali and released by theAzawad Liberation Front on 20 January.[1]
27 March – A court inDar El Beïda sentences writerBoualem Sansal, who holds dual French nationality, to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars ($3,730) for comments deemed to be undermining Algeria's territorial integrity.[5]
31 March – TheAlgerian Army says it had shot down a drone that had entered the country's airspace from Mali nearTin Zaouatine.[6]
Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali withdraw their ambassadors from Algeria as part of protests against accusations by Algiers over the drone shoot-down incident near the Malian border on 31 March.[7]
Algeria suspends all flights to and from Mali, citing multiple airspace violations.[8]
