- State affiliation · Niger
- Vigil category device · not official insignia
Identity provenance
State affiliation: Niger.
Vigil category device — drawn from this record’s own domain, echelon and role. Not an official insignia.
In brief
The national armed forces of Niger — the institution that took power in 2023, expelled two Western partners, and in August 2026 fought a mutiny drawn from its own western garrisons.
- Scope
- Structure, role, lineage and links. 4 subordinate records published.
- Subordination
- Subordination confirmed
- Sources
- 4 on the record
- Record state
- Partial
- Broad area of activity
- Nationwide, with the war concentrated in the west — Tillabéri and Tahoua, the Liptako borderlands shared with Mali and Burkina Faso. Base 101, at Niamey's international airport, hosts both the Russian Africa Corps and the AES joint command.
- Notable history
- The presidential guard deposed President Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023 and the officer corps has governed since, through the CNSP. In 2024 the authorities expelled both Western security partners: American forces left Air Base 101 on 7 July and Air Base 201 at Agadez on 5 August, completing withdrawal on 15 September, having handed over a facility built for about US$110 million. Russian trainers had arrived at Air Base 101 in May 2024, while US personnel were still there. The war in the west has been costly. Tillabéri recorded the highest number of civilian fatalities from attacks of any area in the central Sahel in 2025, and the reported perpetrator ranking places the Nigerien military second, between Islamic State Sahel and JNIM — a claim recorded as the finding of the conflict-data analysts who produced it. On 29–30 August 2026 mutinous soldiers, reportedly including troops from Ouallam, Téra and Dosso, attacked the airport, the presidential palace, the state broadcaster and Base 101 before government forces retook the base. On 11 September 2026 a decree replaced the chief of staff of the armed forces, General Moussa Salaou Barmou, with Brigadier General Mamane Sani Kiaou, until then the army's chief of staff; no reason was given, and the handover took place on 16 September.
- Strengths
- Political primacy; a security partnership that carries no governance conditions; and, at Base 101, co-location with both its external partner and the confederation's joint command.
- Limitations
- Sustained casualties in the western theatre, which is where the August 2026 mutineers were reportedly drawn from — the clearest available indication that battlefield losses have become an internal political problem. The loss of the surveillance and strike capability that departed with the American drone operation has not been publicly replaced. And the country's principal import corridor has been closed since 2023, which constrains everything the force depends on.
Subordinate formations
Rows are layout only — position and order carry no hierarchy, importance, sequence or strength. Every record shown is an immediate subordinate of the selected organisation.
Related organisations
- Africa Corps — Niger role Cooperated with · as of 2026-08 · high confidence
Joint action against the January 2026 attack on Niamey airport, stated publicly by Russia's Foreign Ministry and acknowledged by Niger's head of state in person; and, by the Russian ambassador's account, action against the August 2026 mutiny at the request of the Base 101 command, for which the army's chief of staff thanked the force.
Related locations
Niamey: Seat of the CNSP and of Base 101, retaken from mutineers in August 2026. Tillabéri region: The principal theatre in the west, and the area from which units involved in the August 2026 mutiny were reportedly drawn.
Campaigns
Campaigns naming this organisation as a participant. The campaign record owns the relationship and grades it; this list is computed.
- Pressure in Tillabéri Reported participant · Documented pattern since 2025 · moderate confidence · as of 2026-08
Recorded as a participant in the violence, not only as a defending force: conflict-data analysis ranks the Nigerien military second among perpetrators of civilian killings in this region for 2025. The ranking is that analysis's finding and is carried with its attribution.
Key events
Mutinous soldiers attack Niamey, and Moscow says its force acted on the base's request
Mutinous soldiers attacked the Diori Hamani International Airport, the presidential palace, the state broadcaster and Base 101 — the air force base that hosts both the Russian Africa Corps and the AES joint command. State media described hundreds of disaffected soldiers; reporting indicates the mutineers included troops from Niamey and from Ouallam, Téra and Dosso, localities where the army has sustained heavy casualties. Government forces retook Base 101, General Salifou Modi said on state television that the situation was under control, and dozens of soldiers were shown paraded afterwards. On 29 August Russia's ambassador, Viktor Voropayev, told TASS that the command of Base 101 had appealed to Russian personnel for assistance, and that Niger's chief of the general staff, the army chief of staff and the base commander later visited the Africa Corps compound to thank it; to Western agencies he said the mutineers were neutralised "particularly thanks to the intervention" of the force. Reporting attributes ground and aerial support, drones included, to Africa Corps personnel, and describes Russian personnel held by the mutineers early in the episode. Casualty and arrest figures have not been established; the government held a funeral for three presidential-guard members on 31 August. Algeria's defence ministry said on 30 August that Su-30 fighter aircraft, with an air-to-air refuelling aircraft, had landed at Niamey at the request of the Nigerien authorities to support the army against an attempt to destabilise the state, and President Tebboune confirmed the deployment in an interview broadcast on 3 October; reported numbers differ, and no action by the aircraft has been reported. On 11 September a decree replaced the chief of staff of the armed forces, General Moussa Salaou Barmou, with Brigadier General Mamane Sani Kiaou, the army chief of staff, without a stated reason; the handover took place on 16 September.
Quick actions
System access
Where this record connects into the rest of Vigil. Each row is here because this organisation actually reaches it.
Assessed as of — 2026-09 Last reviewed — 2026-09-27 Changed in brief — 2026-09-27 · Force Atlas updated
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