Algeria Flies Four Su-30s and a Tanker Into Niamey After the Failed Mutiny in Niger

Four Algerian Air Force Su-30MKA fighters and one Il-78 aerial refueling aircraft landed at Niamey's Diori Hamani International Airport on the morning of August 30, 2026, AeroTime reported, a day after Nigerien forces put down a mutiny by soldiers in the capital. The airport shares its site with Air Base 101.

In a August 30 statement, Algeria's Ministry of National Defense said the aircraft had been sent "in response to a request from Nigerien authorities, on the instructions of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune" and on the order of the army chief of staff, for a mission it described as support for the Nigerien army against an attempt to destabilize the country, according to AeroTime. AeroTime called the operation "a rare overseas combat deployment for Algeria".

Over the night of August 28–29, gunfire and explosions were heard in Niamey around the presidential palace, the state broadcaster and Air Base 101, France 24 reported on August 29. Niger's defense minister said a group of soldiers had held some troops hostage at a barracks in the city and opened fire at "certain sensitive sites", according to France 24. The Associated Press reported on August 31 that renegade soldiers at Base 101 took colleagues hostage and fired shots near the presidential palace, 12 km away, before being subdued after a roughly 24-hour standoff by presidential guard forces aided by Russia's Africa Corps. Russia's ambassador to Niger told Russian media that the mutineers were "neutralized, particularly thanks to the intervention" of Africa Corps, the AP reported.

Al Jazeera reported on August 31 that Africa Corps, which it puts at 200–300 personnel in Niger, provided ground and aerial support after government forces struggled to regain control, and that Nigerien state media reported dozens of soldiers killed or arrested, figures it said could not be independently verified. Niger's junta, headed by General Abdourahamane Tiani, seized power in a 2023 coup, the AP noted.

GlobalMilitary.net's 2026 inventory credits the Algerian Air Force with 612 aircraft, including 156 combat aircraft, ranking it 21st of 162 air forces in the site's AIRS index; Algeria stands 18th in the ATLAS military power ranking. The Su-30 is its most numerous fighter, with 63 in service and 9 on order, alongside 46 MiG-29s, 36 Su-24s, 9 Su-35s and 2 Su-57s. The 5 Il-78s are the only aerial refueling type in the Algerian inventory, and Algiers to Niamey is roughly 2,600 km in a straight line.

The Niger Air Force fields 25 aircraft, including 2 combat aircraft, both Su-25s; it ranks 106th in AIRS, and Niger is 139th in ATLAS. The rest of the fleet comprises 5 SA342 Gazelle, 4 Cessna 208, 4 Bell 412, 3 C-130H, 2 Hürkuş, 2 Mi-17, 1 Mi-24/35, 1 Dornier 228 and 1 King Air 350.

Air Base 101 is a former French projected air base that hosted Mirage 2000s, a C-135FR tanker and MQ-9 Reapers under Operation Barkhane in 2018. French forces left on December 22, 2023; about 1,000 US troops followed and have since departed.

Algeria's constitutional revision of November 1, 2020 lifted a ban dating from 1976 on deploying the army abroad, allowing the president to send units to peacekeeping operations under United Nations, African Union or Arab League frameworks after a two-thirds parliamentary vote, according to Middle East Eye and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; before that revision, Algeria's last deployment abroad was to Egypt in 1973. The ministry framed the Niamey mission as bilateral military cooperation and did not mention a parliamentary vote, AeroTime reported.

Three weeks earlier, on August 9, Algeria handed Niger two Mi-24V and two Mi-171 helicopters, flown from the In Guezzam forward base in southern Algeria to Niamey with ammunition, spares and maintenance equipment, defenceWeb and Janes reported.

The Algerian ministry disclosed no duration, basing arrangement or operational tasks for the Su-30s and the tanker, AeroTime noted.