Algeria to deploy troops to Niger over oil crisis

As tensions rise over the oil and fuel crisis in the Republic of Niger, Algeria has for the first time in decades approved the deployment of troops to a foreign country. This comes as Niger battles shortages caused in part by its domestic refinery issues and ongoing violence in the Sahel region, notes Legalbrief. The upper house of Algeria’s Parliament has unanimously approved the deployment of troops to neighbouring Niger, reports Al Jazeera. Later, the People’s National Assembly also gave its approval.The Algerian Constitution empowers the President to send military units abroad, provided that both chambers of Parliament approve it by a two-thirds majority. The Council of the Nation held an emergency session yesterday to vote on troop deployment, Algeria’s popular newspaper El Khabar reported. It would be the first mission outside Algeria’s borders since the 1973 War between Israel and several Arab countries. 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 co-operation 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, according to Al Jazeera. 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. 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.

Full Al Jazeera report

Authorities have not released any information about when and where exactly the Algerian army detachment will be deployed, or how many soldiers will be involved, according to The Washington Post. Algerian Senator Belkacem Boulghiti said troops would be sent ‘to protect Algeria’s economic and strategic interests, particularly its oil facilities in Niger.’ ‘We are not sending our soldiers to wage war in Niger, but for a mission to secure economic infrastructure,’ he told reporters as he left the Chamber after the vote. ‘It is simply an adaptation of our doctrine to evolving circumstances so we can rise to the new challenges imposed by the situation in the Sahel region.’ Algeria’s state-owned energy giant and the largest company in Africa, Sonatrach, has been working with the Sahelian country on the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, which is designed to transport natural gas from Nigeria, through Niger to Algeria for export to European markets. The western Sahel region comprising Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, has been shaken by violent extremism due to deadly attacks by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group and the governments fighting them. All three countries have seen coups in recent years and struggled with overstretched security forces. Last April, the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States – Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso – recalled their ambassadors from Algeria following an incident in which a Malian drone was shot down by Algeria’s army near the border.

Full report in The Washington Post

Meanwhile, Niger’s Government has restricted petrol sales between 9pm and 6am nationwide, except at designated stations, as authorities seek to replenish supplies amid the fuel shortage, reports the Voice of Nigeria. Under the directive, filling stations are prohibited from selling petrol during the restricted hours to enable suppliers, including the Nigerien Petroleum Company (Sonidep), to restock. The government said the temporary measure was intended to improve operations while ensuring fuel deliveries and availability. However, the restriction and ongoing shortage have disrupted livelihoods, particularly among taxi drivers struggling to meet their daily expenses. Moussa Idé Boubacar, a taxi driver in Niamey, disclosed that he had been unable to meet his daily payments for two days. As the shortage spread, motorists faced increasingly long queues at filling stations. Residents in the capital, Niamey, and elsewhere reported disruptions to daily life, including difficulties getting to work and carrying out their activities. The taxi union, Synctaxi, has called on the authorities to relax the restriction for operators struggling to make ends meet, emphasised the importance of the transport sector to the country’s development. In addition to the night-time restriction, the sale of fuel in jerry cans outside filling stations has been prohibited in areas with at least one petrol station.

Full report in the Voice of Nigeria