U.S. Deploys Small Troop Team to Nigeria
Last update: February 3, 2026
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President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes in December on what he described as Islamic State targets in Nigeria and said further U.S. military action could follow....
The United States has sent a small team of troops to Nigeria, the head of the U.S. military’s Africa Command said on Tuesday, in the first official acknowledgement of American forces on the ground since U.S. airstrikes there on Christmas Day.
General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), said the deployment followed an agreement between Washington and Abuja that more needed to be done to counter the terrorist threat in West Africa.
“That has led to increased collaboration between our nations to include a small U.S. team that brings some unique capabilities from the United States,” Anderson told journalists at a press briefing. He did not disclose the size of the team or details of its mission.
Nigeria’s Defence Minister, Christopher Musa, confirmed that a U.S. team was operating in the country but also declined to provide further details.
A former U.S. official said the team appeared to be heavily involved in intelligence gathering and supporting Nigerian forces in operations against groups linked to terrorism.
Nigeria has faced mounting pressure from Washington after Trump accused the West African country of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants operating in the northwest. The Nigerian government denies any systematic persecution of Christians, saying its security forces are targeting Islamist fighters and criminal gangs that attack both Christian and Muslim civilians.
Fighters from Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have stepped up attacks on military convoys and civilians, with the northwest remaining the epicentre of the 17-year Islamist insurgency.
AFRICOM said the U.S. strike carried out in Sokoto state was coordinated with Nigerian authorities and killed multiple Islamic State militants.
The strike followed warnings by Trump in late October that Christianity faced an “existential threat” in Nigeria, alongside threats of U.S. military intervention over what he described as Abuja’s failure to halt violence against Christian communities.
