Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine had returned home at night from a visit to Algeria when the mutiny began, Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said. Renegade soldiers then attempted to detain colleagues at Air Base 101 and opened fire at strategic locations in Niamey, according to Niger’s Minister of Defence, General Salifou Modi.
Sustained gunfire and explosions were heard in the capital overnight from 28 August into 29 August. A military base at Diori Hamani International Airport was targeted first, followed by the state broadcaster and the presidential palace.
General Abdourahamane Tiani has led Niger since July 2023. The rebellion on 28 and 29 August struck several strategic points in Niamey, including the presidential palace, Diori Hamani International Airport and military base 101.
On 30 August, Algeria’s Ministry of Defence said it had sent four fighter jets to Niger after the unrest. The ministry said Nigerien authorities had requested the operation, which it described as support for the Nigerien army against an effort to destabilise the country.
Two patrols of four Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft had landed at Niamey airport with an air-to-air refuelling plane.
Tebboune later confirmed that Algeria had sent fighter jets in late August to help thwart what he described as a coup attempt in Niamey. He said some parties had 'gone too far'.
In excerpts from an interview with local media outlets broadcast on Saturday before its full release, Tebboune linked Zeine’s visit and return to the timing of the mutiny. 'For obvious reasons, this is a provocation against us … and I too will send planes and we'll meet head-on,' he said.
The identity of the parties Tebboune had in mind, and whether he meant domestic or foreign actors, remains unclear from his remarks. The available accounts also do not set out how Algeria coordinated its forces with Niger or whether the aircraft were used in combat.
Last month, Niger’s military government accused France of orchestrating the failed mutiny. France denied involvement in events in its former colony.
Algeria and Niger have close security and military ties and share a long land border. Ricardo Fabiani, North Africa Project Director at the International Crisis Group, said Algeria had followed a non-intervention doctrine since independence from France in 1962. He said Algeria could no longer protect its security and national interests solely at its borders and needed to preserve its strategic depth.
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