Algeria sent fighter jets to Niger to thwart ‘coup attempt’, president says

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune says Algiers deployed warplanes to Niamey in late August following an attack by mutineers.

President of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune called the mutiny in Niger a 'provocation' [File: Antonio Masiello/Getty Images]

Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has said that his country sent fighter jets to Niger in late August to help thwart a “ coup attempt ” that shook the capital, Niamey.

The confirmation came in excerpts from Tebboune’s interview with local media outlets that was broadcast on Saturday ahead of its full release.

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Tebboune said that the warplanes were sent because some parties had “gone too far”.

He added that Niger’s Prime Minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, had been visiting Algeria and returned home at night just before the mutiny.

“For obvious reasons, this is a provocation against us … and I too will send planes and we’ll meet head-on,” Tebboune said.

He did not specify who he meant when he said some had gone too far, or whether he was referring to internal or external actors.

Sustained gunfire and explosions were heard in Niamey overnight on August 28 into August 29.

A military base at Diori Hamani International Airport was first targeted by renegade soldiers, followed by attacks on the state broadcaster and presidential palace.

A military armoured vehicle on the street in Niamey following the attack by mutineers on the airport and presidency on August 30, 2026 [File: Reuters]

Niger’s Minister of Defence, General Salifou Modi, announced at the time that a group of military personnel attempted to detain a number of their colleagues at Air Base 101, and opened fire on strategic locations in the capital.

Security forces had intervened and managed to contain the situation, gradually regaining control over the targeted locations, he added.

On August 30 , the Algerian Ministry of Defence said it had sent four fighter jets to Niger following 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 added then.

Niger’s military government last month accused France of orchestrating the failed mutiny, but France denied any involvement in the events in its former colony.

Algeria and Niger share close security and military ties, as well as a long land border, with Algeria viewing the stability of the Sahel region as an essential component of its national security.

Niger’s Prime Minister Zeine met President Tebboune when he visited Algeria on August 26–27 as the head of a high-level ministerial delegation aimed at enhancing cooperation between the two countries.

阿尔及尔总统阿卜杜勒马吉德·特本表示，在叛乱分子发动袭击后，阿尔及尔于8月下旬向尼亚美部署了战机。

阿尔及利亚总统阿卜杜勒马吉德·特布恩称尼日尔的兵变是“挑衅”[文件：安东尼奥·马西洛/盖蒂图片社]

阿尔及利亚总统阿卜杜勒马吉德·特本表示，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”。

这一消息是从特本接受当地媒体采访的节选中得到的证实，该采访于周六播出，完整版随后发布。

尼日尔军方指责法国策划未遂政变：你需要了解的内容（共3条，第1条）

尼日尔军政府在致命兵变数周后重组军队指挥部（共3条，此为第2条）

尼日尔兵变暴露了其对俄罗斯日益增长的依赖（列表 3/3）

特本表示，之所以派出战机，是因为某些方面“做得太过分了”。

他还补充说，尼日尔总理阿里·马哈曼·拉明·泽因当时正在访问阿尔及利亚，并在兵变发生前一晚返回尼日尔。

“显而易见，这是对我们的挑衅……我也会派出飞机，我们会正面迎击，”特本说道。

他没有具体说明他说的“有些人做得太过分了”指的是谁，也没有说明他指的是内部人员还是外部人员。

8月28日晚至8月29日凌晨，尼亚美持续响起枪声和爆炸声。

叛军首先袭击了迪奥里·哈马尼国际机场的一个军事基地，随后国家广播公司和总统府也遭到袭击。

2026年8月30日，叛乱分子袭击尼亚美机场和总统府后，一辆军用装甲车停在尼亚美街头。[图片：路透社]

尼日尔国防部长萨利福·莫迪将军当时宣布，一群军人试图在101空军基地拘留一些同事，并向首都的战略要地开火。

他补充说，安全部队已经介入并控制了局势，逐步重新控制了目标地点。

8月30日，阿尔及利亚国防部表示，为应对尼日尔的动乱，已向该国派遣了四架战斗机。国防部称，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。

该部当时补充说，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”。

尼日尔军政府上个月指责法国策划了这场失败的兵变，但法国否认参与了其前殖民地发生的事件。

阿尔及利亚和尼日尔在安全和军事方面联系紧密，并且拥有漫长的陆地边界。阿尔及利亚将萨赫勒地区的稳定视为其国家安全的重要组成部分。

尼日尔总理泽内于 8 月 26 日至 27 日率领高级别部长级代表团访问阿尔及利亚，旨在加强两国之间的合作，期间与阿尔及利亚总统特本会面。