Algeria deploys fighter jets to Niamey

Algerian Su-30MKAs fly over Niamey with an Il-78 tanker. (Algerian Ministry of National Defence)

Algeria announced the deployment of combat aircraft to a neighbouring state for the first time on 30 August, when it said four Su-30MKA multirole fighters had flown to Niamey in Niger.

The deployment was prompted by an apparent coup attempt, which the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned in a statement released on 29 August.

The Algerian Ministry of National Defence (MDN) announced on the following day that, in response to a Nigerien request, four Su-30 fighters and accompanying aerial refuelling aircraft had deployed to “confront the attempt to destabilise the sister republic of Niger”.

The MDN released a video showing four Su-30MKA fighters, an Il-78 tanker, and an Il-76 transport at Niamey's civilian international airport, rather than at Air Base 101 on the north side of the runways. The Algerian Air Force personnel were shown being greeted by Mahamadou Mahamane Moussa, Niger's prime minister.

One of the two modified Mi-24 ‘Super Hind' attack helicopters that Algeria transferred to Niger earlier in August was also seen flying in the video.

The Nigerien Press Agency reported on 29 August that the situation had returned to “near normal” after a group of soldiers attempted to detain colleagues at Air Base 101 and fire on sensitive sites elsewhere in the capital the previous night. A funeral for three members of the Presidential Guard who were killed in the fighting was held at the airbase on 31 August.