Algeria deploys troops abroad for first time since 1973 to guard Niger pipeline

Algeria's parliament voted on Sunday to send soldiers to Niger, the country's first foreign military deployment since it backed Egypt in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

The upper house approved the proposal unanimously among all 148 members present. The lower house passed the measure by an absolute majority but did not publish a vote count.

The mission will protect energy infrastructure in Niger, which faces persistent armed-group attacks including near the shared 960-kilometre desert border. Algeria and Niger are building the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, a project designed to carry Nigerian natural gas north through Niger and on to Europe.

Abdellah Akir, an international relations researcher, said the decision marked "a historic break" with Algeria's long-standing doctrine of non-intervention in military conflicts beyond its borders. He said it was driven by the need to protect Algeria's strategic depth in the Sahel and to secure the future pipeline.

Analyst Geoff Porter of North Africa Risk Consulting said the move illustrated a shift in Algerian policy away from dialogue and multilateral forums toward what he called "more tangible means — actual physical presence."

The deployment follows Algeria and Niger's moves earlier this year to repair strained relations and comes after a thwarted mutiny in Niger in August. Akir also said the mission was intended to send a signal to Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, two countries with which Algiers has severed diplomatic ties.