Flash: Algeria has approved the deployment of army units to Niger, the first official deployment of foreign troops to the country since it sent troops to support Egypt in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Flash: Algeria has approved the deployment of army units to Niger, the first official deployment of foreign troops to the country since it sent troops to support Egypt in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

The forces are to be deployed to Damama in northern Niger, near the Libyan border, at a former French base that was used during the Barkan operation.

The mission is described as limited to securing oil and energy facilities, including the Capra oil block of the Algerian energy company Sonatrach, in a place of combat.