Mali on Monday announced it would close its airspace to all civilian and military aircraft traveling to and from Algeria, effective immediately and until further notice, as tension escalates between the two countries after Algeria shot down a Malian drone.

The Malian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure said that the move was in response to Algeria's decision to take the same action, accusing Algeria of "continued support of international terrorism."

Just hours earlier, Algeria's Ministry of National Defense decided to ban all air traffic between the two countries starting on Monday, citing "repeated airspace violations" by Mali.