Algerian parliament’s upper house approves troop deployment to Niger

Vote to send forces comes after a recent defence pact between two neighbouring countries.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune [File: Omer Messinger/Getty Images]

The upper house of Algeria’s parliament has unanimously approved the deployment of troops to neighbouring Niger.

The Algerian constitution empowers the president to send military units abroad, provided that both chambers of parliament approve it by a two-thirds majority.

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The Council of the Nation held an emergency session on Sunday to vote on troop deployment, while the People’s National Assembly, or the lower house, is expected to hold a separate session later in the evening, Algeria’s popular newspaper El Khabar reported. If the deployment is approved, it would be the first mission outside Algeria’s borders since the 1973 War between Israel and several Arab countries, known to Arabs as the October War and Israelis as the Yom Kippur War.

The military units to be deployed by Algeria are expected to be tasked with securing oil facilities in Niger.

The vote came after a visit by Niger’s Defence Minister General Salifou Modi to Algeria last week, where he held talks with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army General Said Chanegriha.

During that visit, the two sides signed a military cooperation protocol, the details of which were not made public.

Earlier this month, Tebboune confirmed that Algeria sent fighter jets to Niger in late August to help thwart a “ coup attempt ” that shook the capital, Niamey.

The Algerian Ministry of Defence previously said it had sent four jets to Niger following the unrest. It said two patrols of four Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft had landed at Niamey airport, accompanied by an air-to-air refuelling plane.

The warplanes were deployed at the request of Nigerien authorities on “a mission to support the Nigerien army in confronting an attempt to destabilise the brotherly state of Niger”, the ministry said on August 30.

Relations between Algeria and Niger have witnessed a significant rapprochement over the past few months on political, diplomatic, military and economic levels, following a period of tension between the two countries.

在两国最近签署防务协议之后，双方投票决定是否派遣军队。

阿尔及利亚总统阿卜杜勒马吉德·特布恩 [文件：Omer Messinger/Getty Images]

阿尔及利亚议会上院一致批准向邻国尼日尔部署军队。

阿尔及利亚宪法赋予总统向国外派遣军事单位的权力，但前提是议会两院均以三分之二多数票批准。

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据阿尔及利亚主流报纸《消息报》（El Khabar）报道，国民委员会周日召开紧急会议，就部队部署进行投票表决；而国民议会（下议院）预计将于当晚晚些时候召开单独会议。如果部署获得批准，这将是自1973年以色列与几个阿拉伯国家之间的战争（阿拉伯人称之为十月战争，以色列人称之为赎罪日战争）以来，以色列首次在阿尔及利亚境外执行军事任务。

阿尔及利亚将部署的军事单位预计将负责保护尼日尔的石油设施。

此次投票是在尼日尔国防部长萨利福·莫迪将军上周访问阿尔及利亚之后进行的。莫迪将军在访问期间与阿尔及利亚总统阿卜杜勒马吉德·特本和人民国民军总参谋长赛义德·沙内格里哈将军举行了会谈。

访问期间，双方签署了军事合作议定书，但具体细节并未对外公布。

本月初，特本证实，阿尔及利亚在 8 月下旬向尼日尔派遣了战斗机，以帮助挫败震惊首都尼亚美的“政变企图”。

阿尔及利亚国防部此前表示，在尼日尔发生动乱后，已向尼日尔派遣了四架战机。该部称，两队共四架苏-30战斗机已在尼亚美机场降落，并有一架空中加油机伴随飞行。

该部于 8 月 30 日表示，这些战机是应尼日尔当局的要求部署的，“任务是支持尼日尔军队对抗企图破坏兄弟国家尼日尔稳定的行动”。

在过去几个月里，阿尔及利亚和尼日尔两国在政治、外交、军事和经济层面上的关系取得了显著的缓和，此前两国关系曾一度紧张。