ALGERIA ORDERS TROOPS TO NIGER TO PROTECT ENERGY FACILITIES

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered troops to Niger on Monday to protect shared energy and economic interests, Algeria’s presidency said. Both chambers of Algeria’s parliament approved the deployment at an emergency session on Sunday. The presidency said Niger’s authorities had requested military assistance. Algeria has not announced how many soldiers it will send or when they will go. If carried out, the operation would be Algeria’s first overseas troop deployment since it sent soldiers to support Egypt during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Senator Belkacem Boulghiti said the troops would protect economic infrastructure, particularly Algerian oil facilities in Niger. He told reporters Algeria was “not sending our soldiers to wage war in Niger” and linked the mission to changing security conditions in the Sahel. Niger faces attacks by armed groups in areas near its border with Algeria. The neighbours share a 960-kilometre desert border and have agreed to cooperate against armed violence, cross-border crime and trafficking. Algeria sent fighter jets and support aircraft to Niger in August after what Algerian officials described as an attempt to destabilise Niger’s military government.

The deployment comes as Algeria’s state-owned energy company Sonatrach works with Niger on the proposed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline. The planned pipeline would carry natural gas from Nigeria through Niger to Europe. Algeria’s 2020 constitutional reform permits overseas military deployments with approval from at least two-thirds of legislators in each parliamentary chamber. The upper house said all 148 members present approved the proposal, while the lower house said it passed by an absolute majority without publishing a tally. Algiers and Niamey moved earlier this year to repair strained relations and strengthen security ties.