Algerian Lawmakers Back Niger Troop Mission

Algeria's parliament voted on Sunday to send soldiers into Niger, a step the country has rarely taken in the decades since its 1973 involvement in the Arab-Israeli war. The People's National Assembly, the lower house, ratified the proposal hours after the Council of the Nation approved it without dissent. The mission's size and start date remain undisclosed.

The vote rests on Article 91 of the constitution, revised in 2020, which lets the president order deployments abroad with backing from at least two-thirds of lawmakers in each chamber. Algeria spent more than $25bn on its armed forces in 2025, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the highest figure in Africa.

The troop movement follows a February visit to Algiers by Niger's president, Abdourahamane Tchiani, and a later trip by his defence minister, Salifou Mody, to discuss security cooperation. Ties had been strained by Algeria's criticism of the 2023 coup in Niger and by an April incident in which the Algerian army shot down a Malian drone; Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso then pulled their ambassadors out of Algiers.

Senator Belkacem Boulghiti told reporters the soldiers would secure Algerian economic and strategic interests, including oil facilities in Niger. "We are not sending our soldiers to wage war in Niger, but for a mission to secure economic infrastructure," he said. "It is simply an adaptation of our doctrine to evolving circumstances so we can rise to the new challenges imposed by the situation in the Sahel region." Algeria shares long borders with Mali, Niger and Libya.

The deployment would place Algerian forces in Niger as France finishes pulling out. French troops left Mali in August 2022, Burkina Faso in February 2023 and Niger in December 2023, after Niamey demanded the departure of about 1,500 French soldiers following its July 2023 coup. The United States withdrew roughly 1,000 troops from Niger in 2024 after the military government ended their cooperation agreement, closing a drone base near Agadez. About 100 Russian personnel linked to Africa Corps reached Niamey in April 2024 to train and equip Nigerien forces.

Algeria severed ties with the United Arab Emirates in September, accusing Abu Dhabi of hostile and provocative acts without publishing details; the two have differed over Western Sahara and Emirati involvement in North African and Sahelian affairs. Algiers also points to the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, which would carry Nigerian gas across Niger to Algeria and on to Europe.