Algeria Confirms It Sent Fighter Jets to Niger to Stop Coup Attempt

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has confirmed that Algeria sent fighter jets to Niger in late August 2026 to help stop a coup attempt in Niamey. Al Jazeera

The confirmation came in excerpts from an interview with local media broadcast on October 3, 2026. The full interview has not yet been released.

Tebboune said the warplanes were sent because some parties had "gone too far." He said Niger's Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine was visiting Algeria and returned home at night just before the mutiny.

Overnight on August 28 into August 29, sustained gunfire and explosions were heard in Niamey. Mutinous soldiers first targeted the military base at Diori Hamani International Airport, then the state broadcaster and the presidential palace. Niger Defence Minister General Salifou Modi said a group of military personnel tried to detain colleagues at Air Base 101, the military section of the airport, and opened fire on strategic locations in Niamey.

On August 30, Algeria's Ministry of Defence said it had sent fighter jets to Niger after the unrest. It said two patrols of four Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft, Russian-built fighter jets, had landed at Niamey airport with an air-to-air refuelling plane, a tanker that refuels jets in flight. The ministry said the deployment was at the request of Nigerien authorities to support the Nigerien army against an attempt to destabilise Niger. Al Jazeera A separate account of that August 30 deployment also listed a military transport plane alongside the fighters and tanker aircraft. Middle East Eye

Zeine had visited Algeria on August 26-27 as head of a ministerial delegation and met Tebboune. Tebboune's account places Zeine's night return immediately before the August 28-29 shooting. Niger's military government accused France of orchestrating the failed mutiny. Paris denies the charge.

The broader context here is about method and ownership. A deployment made at Niger's request is framed as assistance to the Nigerien army rather than entry on Algeria's own. That distinction matters for sovereignty claims and for how other capitals read the flights. The force described, paired Su-30 patrols with tanker support operating from Niamey airport, suggests an aim to hold air presence over the capital and secure the airfield where the mutiny began, rather than a brief flyover or lift mission. Confirmation by the president also gives more weight to the earlier ministry statement.

Looking at what to watch next, three gaps remain. Tebboune did not publicly name the parties he said had "gone too far," leaving the blame dispute between Niamey and Paris unresolved on the public record. The excerpts released so far do not detail the rules of engagement, the duration of the deployment, or whether Algerian airframes operated jointly with Nigerien units at Air Base 101. The full interview, when published, may clarify command arrangements and Algiers' threshold for cross-border air support at a partner's request.