Close air support, armed reconnaissance and strikes with Su-25s, Mi-35s and, from 2022, TB2 drones; helicopter transport and casualty evacuation.

Niger acquired its first combat aircraft in 2013 because of the war in Mali, and for a decade fought alongside French and US forces, whose drones flew from Niamey and Agadez. After the 2023 coup those partners left, and Niger turned to Turkish drones and to joint operations within the Alliance of Sahel States; ANP reported a Nigerien Mi-171 on a joint mission with Burkinabé and Russian forces in January 2024. Human Rights Watch found that a strike on the Kokoloko market in Tillabéri on 6 January 2026 killed 17 civilians (11 women, two men and four children) and three Islamist fighters, and injured 13; it could not identify the drone or munition. HRW also lists media reports of civilian deaths from drone strikes at Tiawa in January 2024 (RFI) and from an air strike on the Injar market in September 2025 that killed more than 30 civilians (RFI, Reuters). HRW says the authorities did not respond to its questions.

Outcome Ongoing.

Civilian casualty figures are HRW’s findings or media reports cited by HRW; Niger’s government published no statement on these strikes in the sources checked. Dates of the first Su-25 and Mi-35 combat sorties were not found.

Flying for

Niger Air Force

Where

Tillabéri and Tahoua regions and, with AES partners, Burkina Faso

Alongside

France (until 2023), United States (until 2024), Russian Africa Corps, Mali and Burkina Faso

Against

Islamic State Sahel Province and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM)

Aircraft

Su-25, Mi-35P, Bayraktar TB2, Mi-171, Cessna 208

Losses

A Mi-171 was damaged landing at Kantchari, Burkina Faso, in early January 2024, one person injured (Ministry of Defence via ANP). No combat loss figures were published.

Sources

Human Rights Watch · ANP · defenceWeb · Wikipedia · defenceWeb

Base defence, with Russian Africa Corps personnel.

On the night of 28–29 January 2026 fighters arriving on motorcycles reached the military side of Niamey airport, where Air Base 101 shares the runway with Diori Hamani International. Islamic State’s Amaq agency released video of aircraft being set on fire with RPGs and gunfire. The losses fell on the reconnaissance fleet Niger had built over a decade: one of its two DA 42 surveillance aircraft, two ISR Caravans, a Mi-171 and one of its two Hurkus. Air Côte d’Ivoire confirmed one of its airliners was hit. ACLED’s analyst Héni Nsaibia wrote in June 2026, after a further attack claimed by JNIM, that it was the third attack on an airport in Niger in six months.

Outcome Repelled. Russia’s foreign ministry said the attack was repelled by Africa Corps personnel and Nigerien soldiers; state television said 20 attackers were killed and 11 captured, which defenceWeb could not confirm.

Casualty figures are each party’s or unofficial; the Islamic State claim of a destroyed drone was not independently confirmed.

Flying for

Niger Air Force

Where

Air Base 101 and Diori Hamani International Airport, Niamey

Alongside

Russian Africa Corps

Against

Islamic State Sahel Province

Aircraft

DA 42 MPP, Cessna 208, Mi-171, Hurkus

Sorties

Ground attack on the base; no air combat reported.

Losses

5 aircraftdefenceWeb counts one DA 42 MPP, two Cessna Caravans, one Mi-171 and one Hurkus destroyed, plus at least one drone claimed by Islamic State. Niger officially reported four soldiers wounded; unofficial reports alleged about two dozen soldiers and three Russian contractors killed. Two civilian airliners were damaged.

Sources

defenceWeb · ACLED · defenceWeb