Madar (Algiers) - In less than two months, Algeria has gone from sending fighter jets to support Niger's army to securing a parliamentary mandate to deploy army units in Niger.
On Sunday, October 25, 2026, the Council of the Nation unanimously, and then the National People's Assembly by absolute majority, approved in closed sessions President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's notification on sending units of the National People's Army to the Republic of Niger, under Article 136 (paragraph 3) of the Constitution, the official APS news agency reported.
From the air to the ground
Algeria's defence ministry announced on August 30 that it had sent two patrols of fighter aircraft to support Niger's army against "an attempt at destabilisation", at the request of the Nigerien authorities and on President Tebboune's instructions, according to APS.
Military contacts then accelerated: Algeria and Niger signed a military cooperation memorandum of understanding on October 21 during a visit by Niger's defence minister, General Salifou Mody, who was told by Algerian army chief General Said Chanegriha that the Algerian army was ready to study "any Nigerien proposal", before being received by President Tebboune.
Energy at the heart of the rapprochement
The military track comes alongside a growing Algerian presence in Niger's energy sector: Algeria sent experts from its hydrocarbons ministry and Sonatrach from October 12 to 19 to help contain an incident at the Gomri oil well in the Agadem field, while Niger is awaiting 30 million litres of petrol from Algeria to ease a fuel shortage that has reached Niamey, according to media reports cited by Madar.
Bloomberg headlined its report saying Algeria had voted to send troops "to protect Niger's oil facilities", but official Algerian sources have not so far specified the nature of the units' mission.
What has not been disclosed
The Algerian authorities have not announced how many troops are involved, where they will be deployed, how long the mission will last or when it will begin, and APS has not published the vote count in the National People's Assembly. Niamey has not yet commented officially on the Algerian parliament's decision.
