The United States has withdrawn most of the approximately 200 military personnel it deployed to Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin in February, following a successful joint counterterrorism operation that culminated in the killing of ISIS’s second-in-command, with intelligence-sharing partnerships set to continue.
The Americans are heading home — but the partnership stays.
The United States has withdrawn the majority of military forces deployed to Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin for a joint counterterrorism operation, US Air Forces Africa Commander General Dagvin R.M. Anderson confirmed during the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026, as reported by Daily Trust.
Washington deployed approximately 200 military personnel to Nigeria in February to support intelligence, surveillance and counterterrorism operations — a deployment that followed President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern and his pledge to intensify US support against terrorist groups.
The operation delivered a landmark result: the killing of Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, ISIS’s second-in-command, at his hideout in Borno State.
“We have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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,” Anderson said.
The general credited US-Nigeria intelligence cooperation as the decisive factor, describing Nigeria as “a very capable and large country” with “a very capable military” that benefited from American expertise accumulated over years of counterterrorism operations globally.
“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,” Anderson added.
The cooperation preceded the December 25, 2025 US air strikes on terrorist enclaves in Sokoto State’s Tangaza Local Government Area.
Anderson also revealed that the same intelligence-sharing framework contributed to the interception of a record 31-ton cocaine shipment transiting West Africa from South America — the largest drug seizure at sea ever recorded.
Intelligence cooperation between Washington and Abuja, Anderson confirmed, will continue beyond the formal military operation.
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