Algeria authorizes troop deployment to Niger
The North African nation, which spent more than $25 billion on defense in 2025, moves to protect Sonatrach oil assets as Western forces withdraw from the Sahel.
By Kevin Brooks ·
Algeria spent more than $25 billion on its armed forces in 2025, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. That budget supports a military that has historically avoided overseas engagements, but the country has now approved a deployment to neighboring Niger.
The People’s National Assembly ratified the proposal on Sunday. The Council of the Nation had already approved the measure unanimously earlier in the day. This legislative action follows a 2020 constitutional revision that allows the president to send troops abroad if two-thirds of each chamber agrees.
Officials have not disclosed the number of soldiers or the specific timeline for their arrival. The mission is designed to protect oil installations owned by Sonatrach, Algeria’s state-owned energy company. Senator Belkacem Boulghiti told reporters that the goal is to secure economic infrastructure rather than to wage war.
Algeria had already moved military assets into the region earlier this year. In late August, the country dispatched four Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 jets, a transport aircraft, and an aerial refueling plane to Niamey. Algerian authorities described this initial move as a response to an attempt to destabilize Niger’s military-led government.
The deployment occurs as diplomatic ties between Algiers and Niamey improve. Niger’s President Abdourahamane Tchiani visited Algeria in February, followed by a trip from Defense Minister Salifou Mody to discuss security cooperation. These visits helped repair relationships strained after Algeria condemned the 2023 coup in Niger and after a diplomatic crisis triggered by the shooting down of a Malian drone in April.
The move reflects a shifting security environment in the Sahel. France withdrew its troops from Niger in December 2023, following departures from Mali and Burkina Faso. The United States removed approximately 1,000 soldiers from Niger in 2024. Russia has filled part of the void, with approximately 100 personnel from the Africa Corps arriving in Niamey in April 2024.
Algeria shares thousands of kilometers of border with Mali, Niger, and Libya. Instability in these neighboring countries has long affected Algiers. The region has experienced six military coups since 2012, driven by security challenges and political grievances. Algeria’s new posture allows it to assert its security interests directly while maintaining its official stance on sovereignty.
Senator Boulghiti characterized the deployment as an adaptation of doctrine to evolving circumstances. The Algerian government aims to rise to new challenges imposed by the situation in the Sahel region. The decision marks a departure from a foreign policy built around noninterference, as the country seeks to protect its strategic interests in a volatile neighborhood.
Source: Al Jazeera
