The United States has withdrawn most of the military personnel it deployed to Nigeria for a joint counterterrorism operation in the Lake Chad Basin.
The Commander of the US Air Forces in Europe–Air Forces Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, disclosed this during a press briefing on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026.
The United States deployed about 200 military personnel to Nigeria in February to support intelligence, surveillance and counterterrorism operations in the Lake Chad Basin.
The deployment formed part of growing security cooperation between Washington and Abuja in the fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups operating in the region.
It followed the redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern by US President Donald Trump, who pledged to strengthen US support for efforts to combat terrorist groups operating in the country.
On 25 December 2025, the US carried out air strikes on two terrorist enclaves in the Bauni Forest, located in Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The partnership later culminated in the killing of Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, the second-in-command of ISIS, at his hideout in Borno State.
Speaking at the conference, Anderson highlighted the role of US-Nigeria intelligence cooperation in counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State (ISIS/Daesh).
He said the operation in the Lake Chad Basin had concluded and that most of the US personnel involved had returned to Washington, DC.
“And so that operation in the Lake Chad Basin of Nigeria not only helped the countries in that immediate region, but it also helps countries globally, as that disrupts the ISIS network.
“And so — and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the intelligence sharing and the understanding that’s necessary to be able to prosecute these difficult tasks,” he said.
The US general described Nigeria as a capable partner with a strong military, noting that cooperation between the two countries had produced significant gains in the fight against ISIS.
According to him, US intelligence support, combined with the efforts of the Nigerian military, led to the successful operation that eliminated the second-in-command of the ISIS global network.
“I think the partnership that we’ve shown recently with Nigeria, where Nigeria’s a very capable and large country — it’s got a strong economy; it’s got a large, educated population; it’s got a very capable military.
