The U.S. Africa Command has announced that the United States has deployed a small team of its forces to Nigeria, marking the first official acknowledgment of an American military presence on the ground since a U.S. airstrike was carried out in the country during the Christmas holiday.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, the commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said the deployment followed an agreement between Washington and Abuja on the need to intensify joint efforts to counter the escalating terrorist threat in West Africa. He added that the expanded cooperation includes a small U.S. team with “special capabilities,” without providing further details on its size or the nature of its mission.
In December, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes targeting what he described as Islamic State positions in Nigeria, warning that additional U.S. military operations could follow. Reuters had previously reported that the United States had been conducting aerial reconnaissance flights over Nigeria from Ghana since at least late November.
Nigerian Defense Minister Christopher Musa confirmed the presence of the U.S. team in the country but offered no further details regarding its scope of work. A former U.S. official, however, said the team appears to be heavily involved in intelligence gathering and in enabling Nigerian forces to strike armed groups.
Nigeria has come under increasing pressure from the U.S. administration after President Trump accused the Nigerian government of failing to adequately protect Christians from attacks by armed groups operating in the country’s northwest. Nigerian authorities deny any systematic persecution, stating that their military operations target armed groups attacking both Christian and Muslim civilians alike.
Meanwhile, fighters from Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province have intensified attacks on military convoys and civilians, with northwestern Nigeria remaining a focal point of an insurgency that has persisted for about 17 years.
AFRICOM said the latest airstrike was carried out in Sokoto State in coordination with Nigerian authorities and resulted in the killing of several Islamic State in West Africa fighters. The strike followed warnings issued by President Trump in late October, in which he claimed that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened military intervention if what he described as the government’s failure to halt violence against Christian communities continues.