Madama is a border settlement on the northeast frontier of

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. Little more than an army post, the settlement serves as a frontier station controlling travel between Niger and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. It is also the site of a former

French colonial French colonial architecture includes several styles of architecture used by the French during colonization. French colonial architecture has a long history, beginning in North America in 1604 and being most active in the Western Hemisphere (Car ...

fort, built in 1931. The fort is now surrounded by barbed wire and a field of

landmines A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, whic ...

Military use today

The army of Niger maintains a garrison of a hundred soldiers, depending on the 24th Interarmes Battalion from Dirkou. On October 23, 2014, the French government announced plans to base helicopters and 50 French troops here, under the

Operation Barkhane Operation Barkhane (French language, French: ''Opération Barkhane'') was a counterinsurgency operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's S ...

. The French Army built a

forward operating base A forward operating base (FOB) is any secured forward operational level military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support strategic goals and tactical objectives. A FOB may contain an airbase, hospital, machine shop, and othe ...

. The French military is about 200 to 250 soldiers on January 1, 2015. The operational base of Madama served as a command post for a military operation zone control for the French, Niger and Chad armies from 20 to 27 December 2014. Af Ner 125 - Fort de Madama

Madama Airfield

Aerodrome Madama consists of a

laterite Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...

track () with a length of . The work of the 25th Air Engineer Regiment and the 19th Engineer Regiment allowed the reconstruction of the runway from November 2014; will be extended to a length of . Aviation facilities will be added: a ramp and two parking areas for aircraft and helicopter pads. Tactical transport aircraft can land there since December 2014. In 2017, the

A400M The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military, now Airbus Defence and Space, as a tactical airlifter with strategic capab ...

transport aircraft made its first operational mission to Niger after landing at Madama.

References

Nijar: Faransa za ta kafa wata sabuwar sansanin soja a yankin arewa maso gabacin Nijar
{{Coord, 21.945168, 13.647910, display=title Populated places in Niger Military installations of France in other countries Forts