Algeria's Senate Approves Troop Deployment to Niger, Marking Potential First Overseas Mission Since 1973

The upper house of Algeria’s parliament has unanimously approved the deployment of troops to neighboring Niger. This decision follows the constitutional framework that empowers President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to send military units abroad, subject to a two-thirds majority approval from both parliamentary chambers. The Council of the Nation convened an emergency session on Sunday for the vote, with the lower house, the People’s National Assembly, expected to hold its session later the same evening, according to Algeria’s newspaper El Khabar. Should this deployment proceed, it would represent Algeria's first military mission outside its borders since the 1973 War, known in the Arab world as the October War and by Israelis as the Yom Kippur War. The troops are anticipated to be tasked with securing oil facilities within Niger. This parliamentary vote occurred subsequent to a visit by Niger’s Defence Minister General Salifou Modi to Algeria last week. During his visit, General Modi engaged in discussions with President Tebboune and the Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army, General Said Chanegriha. A military cooperation protocol was signed between the two nations, though its specific details remain undisclosed. Earlier in August, President Tebboune confirmed Algeria’s dispatch of fighter jets to Niger in late August to assist in thwarting a “coup attempt” that destabilized the capital, Niamey. The Algerian Ministry of Defence had previously announced the deployment of four jets to Niger following the unrest. The ministry stated that two patrols, each comprising four Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft, landed at Niamey airport, accompanied by an air-to-air refuelling plane. These warplanes were sent at the request of Nigerien authorities for a “mission to support the Nigerien army in confronting an attempt to destabilise the brotherly state of Niger,” the ministry reported on August 30. Relations between Algeria and Niger have seen a notable improvement in political, diplomatic, military, and economic spheres in recent months, following a prior period of strained relations.