Algeria has stepped up its military backing for Niger, sending fighter jets, helicopters and other military aircraft to Niamey days after a mutiny threatened the country’s military government and triggered a direct intervention by Russia’s Africa Corps.
Four Algerian Sukhoi SU-30 fighter jets, an Ilyushin IL-76 military transport aircraft and an Ilyushin IL-78 aerial refuelling tanker landed at Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey on Sunday, August 30, according to Nigerien reports.
The deployment came just one day after Nigerien forces, backed by Russian Africa Corps personnel, regained control of the strategic airbase following an attempted coup.
Niger’s authorities described the Algerian mission as a demonstration of “strategic support” from the Algerian Armed Forces to their Nigerien counterparts.
According to Niger Fr (@NigerAr), an Alliance of Sahel States (AES)-focused account on X, the aircraft were received in Niamey by Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, Defence Minister General Salifou Mody, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Moussa Salaou Barmou and other senior military officials.
