Niger or the Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. It covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2 (490,000 sq mi), making it the largest landlocked country in West Africa and the second largest landlocked nation in Africa behind Chad. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara. Its predominantly Muslim population of about 25 million lives mostly in clusters in the south and west of the country. The capital Niamey is located in Niger's southwest corner.
The Niger Armed Forces includes military armed force service branches, paramilitary services branches and the National Police of Niger. The Army, Air Force and the National Gendarmerie are under the Ministry of Defense whereas the National Guard and the National Police fall under the command of the Ministry of Interior. With the exception of the National Police, all military and paramilitary forces are trained in military fashion. The President of Niger is the supreme commander of the entire armed forces. The National Assembly of Niger passed a statute for the Army of Niger in November 2020, planning for the army's size to increase from 25,000 personnel in 2020, to 50,000 in 2025 and finally 100,000 in 2030.
Agadez, formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of the eponymous Agadez Region, the city lies in the Sahara desert, and is also the capital of Aïr, one of the traditional Tuareg–Berber federations. The historic centre of the town has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Arlit is an industrial town and capital of the Arlit Department of the Agadez Region of northern-central Niger, built between the Sahara Desert and the eastern edge of the Aïr Mountains. It is 200 kilometers south by road from the border with Algeria. As of 2012, the commune had a total population of 79,725 people.
Camp Lemonnier is a United States Naval Expeditionary Base, situated next to Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport in Djibouti City, and home to the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) of the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM). It is the only permanent U.S. military base in Africa. The camp is operated by U.S. Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia; CJTF-HOA is the most notable tenant command located at the facility as of 2008.
Diori Hamani International Airport is an airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger. It is located 9 km (5.6 mi) from Niamey in the south-eastern suburbs of the city, along the Route Nationale 1, the major highway linking Niamey with the east of the nation. The airport complex also includes the major base for the Armed Forces of Niger's "Armee d'Air".
Mano Dayak International Airport is an airport in Agadez in the Sahara desert in Niger. It is named after Mano Dayak, a Tuareg leader.
The United States Africa Command is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for U.S. military operations, including fighting regional conflicts and maintaining military relations with 53 African nations. Its area of responsibility covers all of Africa except Egypt, which is within the area of responsibility of the United States Central Command. U.S. AFRICOM headquarters operating budget was $276 million in fiscal year 2012.
Operation Juniper Shield, formerly known as Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara (OEF-TS), is the military operation conducted by the United States and partner nations in the Saharan and Sahel regions of Africa, consisting of counterterrorism efforts and policing of arms and drug trafficking across central Africa. It is part of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). The other OEF mission in Africa is Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA).
The 2007-2009 Tuareg rebellion was an insurgency that began in February 2007 amongst elements of the Tuareg people living in the Sahara desert regions of northern Mali and Niger. It is one of a series of insurgencies by formerly nomadic Tuareg populations, which had last appeared in the mid-1990s, and date back at least to 1916. Populations dispersed to Algeria and Libya, as well as to the south of Niger and Mali in the 1990s returned only in the late 1990s. Former fighters were to be integrated into national militaries, but the process has been slow and caused increased resentment. Malian Tuaregs had conducted some raids in 2005–2006, which ended in a renewed peace agreement. Fighting in both nations was carried on largely in parallel, but not in concert. While fighting was mostly confined to guerrilla attacks and army counterattacks, large portions of the desert north of each nation were no-go zones for the military and civilians fled to regional capitals like Kidal, Mali and Agadez, Niger. Fighting was largely contained within Mali's Kidal Region and Niger's Agadez Region. Algeria helped negotiate an August 2008 Malian peace deal, which was broken by a rebel faction in December, crushed by the Malian military and wholescale defections of rebels to the government. Niger saw heavy fighting and disruption of uranium production in the mountainous north, before a Libyan backed peace deal, aided by a factional split among the rebels, brought a negotiated ceasefire and amnesty in May 2009.
The Nigerien's Movement for Justice is a largely ethnic Tuareg militant group based in northern Niger. However the group also includes other nomadic ethnicities within this area, such as the Toubou and the Fulani. These groups have been battling the Niger government since 2007.
The 409th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE), which may activate or inactivate the group as needed at any time.
Niger–United States relations are bilateral relations between Niger and the United States. The two countries cooperate on a range of issues, including counter-terrorism, trade and investment, and health and education. On August 4, 2023, Abdourahamane Tchiani's military junta severed diplomatic ties with the US after a successful coup d'état deposing Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum. In 2024, the Niger ended its security cooperation with the United States, stating that the security pact violated the Niger's constitution.
Larissa State Airport "Thessaly" was built in 1912. It was the commercial airport of Larissa until 1997 when it closed for civilian traffic. Currently the airport is being used only by military aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force, whose 110th Combat Wing is stationed there. The runways do not have an ILS.
The Tongo Tongo ambush or the Niger ambush occurred on 4 October 2017, when armed militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) attacked Nigerien and US soldiers outside the village of Tongo Tongo, Niger, while they were returning to base after a stop in the village. During the ambush, four Nigeriens, four US soldiers, and at least 21 ISGS militants were killed, and eight Nigeriens and two US soldiers including the team commander were wounded. In the day preceding the ambush, the Nigerien and US soldiers conducted a mission attempting to locate and capture or kill Doundou Chefou, a commander in the ISGS.
Ouma Laouali is a Nigerien pilot, and the first woman to serve as a pilot in the country.
The US military intervention in Niger is the deployment of special operations forces and unmanned aerial vehicles by the United States in support of the Nigerien government and French military in counter-terrorism operations against militant groups in Niger as part of Operation Juniper Shield. The deployment of U.S. forces in Niger and in the greater West Africa region involves the training of host nation partner forces, enhancement of host nation security assistance efforts, and facilitates counter-terrorism and surveillance and reconnaissance missions in support of host nation partner forces. The U.S. has deployed drones from the Air Force and CIA in order to assist American and Nigerien forces in counter-terrorism operations, monitor routes used by militants in Niger into neighboring nations, and to assist ongoing operations in Libya.
The United States Air Force's 435th Air Expeditionary Wing is an inactive air expeditionary unit assigned to the Third Air Force, last stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. As of 2022, the wing had forward deployed units in six locations in West and East Africa. Its command staff is also exercised command of the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing.
