The United States has withdrawn the majority of its military personnel deployed to Nigeria for a targeted joint counterterrorism operation, while reaffirming its commitment to ongoing intelligence sharing and security partnership with the Nigerian government.
The deployment, which included approximately 200 U.S. troops, supported operations in the Lake Chad Basin region against ISIS affiliates and other terrorist networks. A key achievement of the mission was a May 2026 strike that eliminated ISIS’s global second-in-command, Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, along with several high-value lieutenants a significant blow to the group’s operations in West Africa.
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) officials confirmed that with the specific objectives of the operation now met, most forces involved have been redeployed. However, the U.S. will maintain robust intelligence collaboration and capacity-building support at Nigeria’s request to help address ongoing threats from groups like ISWAP and Boko Haram.
Quote from U.S. Military Official (General Dagvin Anderson): “We have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but we are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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.
This development underscores the strong bilateral security relationship between the United States and Nigeria. Both nations expressed appreciation for the successful collaboration, which enhanced regional stability and demonstrated the effectiveness of targeted, intelligence-driven counterterrorism efforts.
The U.S. remains a committed partner in supporting Nigeria’s efforts to combat terrorism and build long-term security capacity in the Sahel and Lake Chad region.