Algeria to send troops to Niger in first foreign deployment since 1973
The troops are expected to protect energy facilities in northern Niger, near the Libyan border.
Algeria to send troops to Niger in first foreign deployment since 1973
Algeria recently donated four military helicopters to Niger (file photo)
Algeria will deploy troops to Niger in its first foreign mission since it sent forces to Egypt during the Arab-Israeli war in 1973.
The deployment comes after Niger’s defence minister visited Algiers, as the country looks for help against armed groups, some of them tied to al-Qaeda or Islamic State.
Algeria has economic stakes in Niger, including a planned gas pipeline that would transport Nigerian gas through Niger to Algeria. The troops are expected to guard energy facilities in northern Niger, close to the Libyan border.
The move follows the rebuilding of ties between the two neighbours after a diplomatic dispute in 2025, when Niger withdrew its ambassador from Algiers.
Algeria’s upper house of parliament met in an emergency session on Sunday to vote on the proposed deployment. AFP news agency reported that 148 of the 174 senators supported it. The lower house of parliament later approved it as well.
Still, the number of soldiers and the timing of the deployment have not been disclosed.
The decision would be the first application of a 2020 constitutional clause permitting overseas military deployments, and a major departure from Algeria’s long-standing policy of not sending forces abroad.
"We are not sending our soldiers to wage war in Niger, but for a mission to secure economic infrastructure," Algerian senator Belkacem Boulghiti told reporters after the vote.
Algeria’s state-owned energy firm, Sonatrach, has also reached an agreement with Niger’s petroleum ministry to search for oil in the Kafra region. Reuters reported that two exploration wells are believed to hold 168 million and 100 million barrels, respectively.
Relations between Algeria and Niger have not always been easy in recent years.
Algeria condemned the 2023 coup that removed Niger’s elected President, Mohamed Bazoum, and brought Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani to power.
Tensions increased again in 2025 after Algeria shot down a Malian drone near its border. Niger recalled its ambassador to Algiers in solidarity with Mali, a close ally that is also under military rule.
Since then, relations have improved. Tchiani visited Algeria in February 2026, and in late August President Abdelmadjid Tebboune sent fighter jets to Niger to help put down a coup attempt and also donated four military helicopters.