Algeria to send troops to Niger in first foreign deployment in over 50 years

Algeria on Sunday approved sending troops to neighbouring Niger to protect energy facilities, according to statements from both houses of parliament, in what is the country's first foreign deployment of military forces since the 1970s. The rare measure comes as Algiers and Niamey strengthen security ties after moving earlier this year to repair strained relations and following a thwarted mutiny in Niger in August. The overseas deployment will be a first since Algiers sent troops to support Egypt during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The upper house approved the proposal, it said in a statement, with a legislator telling AFP it was approved by all 148 members in attendance. The parliament's lower house said it also voted "by an absolute majority" to deploy the military unit in Niger, though it did not provide numbers. Niger faces persistent attacks by armed groups, including in areas near the border with Algeria. The neighbours, who share a 960-kilometre (600-mile) desert border, have agreed to deepen cooperation against jihadist violence, cross-border crime and trafficking. "This decision marks a historic break with Algeria's doctrine of non-intervention in military conflicts beyond it...