Mali's authorities banned a German military plane with 75 troops on board from overflying the country late on Wednesday, forcing it to divert to Gran Canaria, the German defence ministry said.
The transport plane was on its way from a German air base to a logistics hub in Niamey in Niger when it was told it could not enter Mali's airspace, a spokesman for the defence ministry in Berlin said.
Germany has deployed some 1,200 troops to Mali and has to decide by the end of May whether to extend the military mission which is supplied via the logistics base in Niamey.
