THE United States of America says it has withdrawn most of its forces deployed for a joint counterterrorism operation in Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin.
The Commander of 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.
Media reports that 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 came amid growing security cooperation between Washington and Abuja in the fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups operating in the region.
The troop deployment followed the redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern by U.S. President Donald Trump, who had vowed to intensify U.S. support against terrorist groups operating in the country.
On December 25, 2025, the US carried out air strikes on two terrorist enclaves in the Bauni Forest in Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The partnership culminated in the killing of Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, the second-in-command of ISIS, at his hideout in Borno State.
At the conference, he highlighted the role of US-Nigeria intelligence cooperation in counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State (ISIS/Daesh).
He explained that the military operation had ended and most US personnel involved had left for Washington DC.
“And so that operation in the Lake Chad Basin of Nigeria not only helped the countries in that immediate region; 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“And so — and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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 added.
The US general described Nigeria as a capable partner with a strong military and said the cooperation between both countries had yielded significant results against ISIS.
According to him, US intelligence support, combined with Nigerian military efforts, led to a successful operation against 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.
“But there are things that we have learned in the counterterrorist fight over several years that we were able to assist and integrate with them to help them with their intelligence and help with the intelligence sharing that eventually led to a cooperative effort to where we were able to bring some unique capabilities that the U.S. brings and be able to prosecute together the number two leader within the ISIS or Daesh organization who is responsible for much of their global operations, their global media, and their recruiting.
“So I think as we go forward, that is an example of how we’re looking at engaging with partners to help them be more effective by only bringing unique U.S. capabilities that allow the partner to be effective in these fights,” he said.
He also advocated stronger intelligence sharing among African countries to combat terrorism, illicit trafficking and other transnational crimes.
According to him, effective communication and established partnerships recently contributed to the interception of a record 31-ton cocaine shipment originating from South America and transiting along the West African coast.
“I was able to coordinate through our interagency in the United States, through AFRICOM, and then notify some of the partners. And eventually it was a Spanish ship that interdicted the ship that had 31 tons of cocaine on it, and it turns out is the largest interdiction of drugs at sea that we’ve ever seen,” Anderson said.
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He added that sustained cooperation among African countries, international partners and the private sector would remain critical to addressing security threats while promoting economic stability and investment across the continent.