Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has confirmed that his government dispatched fighter jets to Niger in late August. The deployment was intended to help neutralize a coup attempt that destabilized Niamey, the capital of Niger, during a period of civil unrest.
Speaking in excerpts from an upcoming media interview, Tebboune stated the decision to send military aircraft followed reports that certain actors had “gone too far.” While he did not explicitly name the parties involved or clarify if they were internal or external forces, the move was described as a direct response to a provocation. “For obvious reasons, this is a provocation against us … and I too will send planes and we’ll meet head-on,” Tebboune said. The confirmation came in excerpts from Tebboune’s interview with local media outlets that was broadcast on Saturday ahead of its full release.
The tension began unfolding overnight between August 28 and August 29, when residents reported hearing sustained gunfire and explosions throughout Niamey. Renegade soldiers initially targeted a military facility at Diori Hamani International Airport before launching further assaults on the presidential palace and the state broadcaster.
General Salifou Modi, Niger’s Minister of Defence, later reported that rogue military personnel had attempted to detain colleagues at Air Base 101. Security forces successfully intervened to contain the mutineers and re-established control over the affected strategic areas.
Official records from the Algerian Ministry of Defence on August 30 detailed that two patrols of four Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft, supported by an air-to-air refuelling plane, were landed at Niamey airport. These assets were deployed at the formal request of Nigerien authorities to support their army in maintaining national stability.
The timing of the crisis was notable, as Niger’s Prime Minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, had concluded a high-level ministerial visit to Algeria just before the uprising began. The visit, which took place from August 26 to 27, focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two nations.
The military leadership in Niger has since alleged that France orchestrated the failed mutiny, an accusation that the French government has denied. Algeria maintains a strategic interest in the security of the Sahel region, viewing the stability of its neighbor as a fundamental requirement for its own national security. But France denied any involvement in the events in its former colony, niger’s military government last month accused France of orchestrating the failed mutiny.
