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U.S. Confirms Small Military Team Operating in Nigeria to Support Counterterror Fight

AFRICOM describes the contingent as an augmentation of Nigerian operations following late‑2025 talks in Rome.

Overview

  • Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson said a small U.S. team is operating in Nigeria to bolster efforts against Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province.
  • Officials have withheld the unit’s size, timing and tasks, though reporting points to an intelligence and targeting‑enablement role supported by U.S. surveillance flights out of Ghana.
  • The deployment followed Anderson’s meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Rome that set up closer counterterrorism coordination.
  • Nigeria’s defence minister, Christopher Musa, acknowledged U.S. personnel are working in the country without offering details.
  • The step follows U.S. airstrikes on Dec. 25 in Sokoto that AFRICOM said killed multiple ISIS militants, as Washington presses Abuja over attacks on Christians that Nigeria says are not a targeted genocide.