As Russian Mi-24s Crash in Mali, Algeria Sends Its Own to Niger

On August 9, 2026, four Algerian military helicopters departed the In Guezzam base in Algeria's far south, bound for Niamey. The consignment two Mi-24V attack helicopters and two Mi-171 transport helicopters was accompanied by ammunition, spare parts, and logistical support equipment delivered separately by an Algerian Air Force transport aircraft.

The Algerian Ministry of National Defence said the operation was carried out on the instructions of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and framed it as a strengthening of "fraternal and historical" ties and strategic security cooperation with Niger. The helicopters, which had been repainted before departure, were received at Niamey airport by General Salifou Maïnassara, Chief of Staff of the Nigerien Air Force.

The transfer is not a small gesture. The Mi-24V is a heavily armed attack platform built for combat and close air support, while the Mi-171 is a versatile transport helicopter derived from the Mi-8/17 family, used for troop movement and logistics. Algeria and Niger share a land border of roughly 950 kilometres and the donation lands at a moment when Niger's junta in power since July 2023 is contending with escalating attacks from JNIM and Islamic State–linked fighters, including strikes on aviation infrastructure central to its counterterrorism operations.

A Month of Losses in Mali
The Algerian delivery comes barely a month after Malian forces and their Russian Africa Corps partners suffered significant air losses in northern Mali. During the battle for Anéfis (July 4–9, 2026), a joint offensive by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) routed a relief convoy and downed at least one Mi-24 helicopter near Tabrichat, roughly 55 kilometres from Anéfis.

FAMa and Africa Corps forces ultimately held the base after days of fighting, but analysts at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) noted that Malian and Russian forces did not control the surrounding terrain or the supply corridor even after the base was secured.

The pattern repeated. On July 18, JNIM and the FLA ambushed a joint Malian-Russian convoy near Tabrichat again, reportedly leaving dozens of Malian soldiers behind. That same week, JNIM overran a military camp at Kouakourou; when a formation of three helicopters was deployed to the area the following day, insurgents shot down and destroyed one Mi-24, killing its crew, and later released drone footage of the wreckage.

Video circulating online has also shown recovered weaponry, including the Mi-24's GSh-30-2K cannon. Independent trackers and specialized open-source analysts point to a broader erosion of Mali's air fleet, with several Mi-24s reported lost since 2023 alongside other aircraft, including Su-25 jets, drones, and transport helicopters.

A Russian Partnership Under Strain
Since the withdrawal of French forces and the departure of the UN's MINUSMA mission, Mali has made Russia its principal security partner. The Africa Corps the successor to the Wagner Group provides personnel, training, weapons, and air support to the junta in Bamako. But the events of the past two months have exposed the limits of that model.

JNIM and the FLA, once opposing forces, have shown they can coordinate offensives, ambush supply convoys, and deploy light anti-aircraft weapons, including ZU-23 autocannons mounted on pickup trucks.

The losses of attack helicopters, though individually modest, are significant for a country with a limited air fleet: every aircraft lost degrades Mali's capacity for reconnaissance, close air support, and force projection.

Africa Corps has publicly denied suffering "irreparable losses" and claims to have killed hundreds of enemy fighters in the fighting, but conflicting imagery and casualty claims from both sides have fuelled doubts about the sustainability of Russia's commitment in what is increasingly a war of attrition.

Forced Diversification, Not Real Independence

Faced with this erosion of Russian-supplied air power, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) countries have little choice but to diversify their sources of military supply. Remaining exclusively dependent on Moscow exposes them to a growing operational risk, as Mali's experience has shown. Algeria's donation to Niger fits within this pattern of forced diversification.

That diversification, however, is limited in what it actually changes. The Mi-24V and Mi-171 are themselves Soviet/Russian-designed aircraft Algeria's Mi-24s were previously upgraded by the South African firm Advanced Technologies and Engineering in 1999–2001, and its Mi-171s entered service between 2002 and 2004. Changing the intermediary supplying the hardware does not alter the region's underlying dependence on the same weapons system, nor does it resolve the core problem exposed in Mali: the Russian military's evident inability to protect its air assets on the ground once deployed.

The partnership between the Sahelian juntas and Moscow has not collapsed, but it is no longer the exclusive arrangement it once was. For the Kremlin, the reality is difficult to obscure: repeated losses among its own forces and those of its allies point to real limitations in Russia's ability to sustain air operations in the Sahel. The diversification now under way among AES states looks less like a strategic choice than a consequence of the shortcomings of the Russian security model on the ground.

Mustapha Bature Sallama.
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal investigation and Intelligence Analysis.

International Conflict Management and Peace Building.USIP

mustysallama@gmail.com
+233-555-275-880
References
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The Defense Post, "Algeria Supplies Niger With Mi-24V, Mi-171 Helicopters" https://thedefensepost.com/2026/08/10/algeria-niger-mi-helicopters/

Janes, "Algeria donates helicopters to Niger" https://www.janes.com/defence-intelligence-insights/defence-news/defence/algeria-donates-helicopters-to-niger

L'Express DZ, "Le Niger reçoit les quatre hélicoptères offerts par l'Algérie" https://www.expressdz.dz/2026/08/10/arrivee-a-niamey-du-don-du-mdn-a-larmee-nigerienne/

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SOFX, "Malian Army and Russian Africa Corps Convoy Ambushed Again by FLA and JNIM Militants" https://www.sofx.com/malian-army-and-russian-africa-corps-convoy-ambushed-again-by-fla-and-jnim-militants/

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