The United States has confirmed the withdrawal of its military troops deployed for a joint counterterrorism operation in Nigeria.
However, they will continue intelligence sharing and other forms of security cooperation with Nigeria.
The Commander of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson made this disclosure on Thursday at a press briefing on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026.
Anderson highlighted the role of US-Nigeria intelligence cooperation in counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State (ISIS/Daesh), noting that while the specific military operation had ended and most US personnel involved had left, America remained committed to supporting Nigeria through intelligence collaboration at the request of the Nigerian government.
“And so that operation in the Lake Chad Basin of Nigeria not only helped the countries in that immediate region; it also helped countries globally as that disrupted the ISIS network.
“And then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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,” Anderson said.
