The United States has withdrawn most of the military personnel it deployed to Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin for a joint counterterrorism mission, while maintaining intelligence sharing and other security cooperation with the Nigerian government.
The Commander of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe–Air Forces Africa, Dagvin R. M. Anderson, disclosed the development during a virtual press briefing on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026.
Anderson said the operation in the Lake Chad Basin had achieved its objective and that most of the U.S. forces assigned to the mission had since left Nigeria. He, however, stressed that Washington would continue supporting Nigeria through intelligence collaboration at the country’s request.
“And so 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 said.
“And so — and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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,” he added.
The U.S. commander described Nigeria as a strong strategic partner with a capable military, saying cooperation between both countries has produced significant gains in the fight against the Islamic State.
According to him, intelligence support provided by the United States, combined with Nigerian military operations, contributed to the successful elimination of the group’s second-in-command.
“I think the partnership that we’ve shown recently with Nigeria, where Nigeria’s a very capable and large country — it’s got a strong economy; it’s got a large, educated population; it’s got a very capable military.
“But there are things that we have learned in the counterterrorist fight over several years that we were able to assist and integrate with them to help them with their intelligence and help with the intelligence sharing that eventually led to a cooperative effort to where we were able to bring some unique capabilities that the U.S. brings and be able to prosecute together the number two leader within the ISIS or Daesh organization who is responsible for much of their global operations, their global media, and their recruiting,” he said.
Anderson said the operation underscored the importance of intelligence cooperation over prolonged foreign military deployments.
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“So I think as we go forward, that is an example of how we’re looking at engaging with partners to help them be more effective by only bringing unique U.S. capabilities that allow the partner to be effective in these fights,” he said.
He also called for stronger intelligence cooperation among African nations to tackle terrorism, drug trafficking and other cross-border crimes.
The commander revealed that recent collaboration between African countries, U.S. agencies and international partners led to the interception of a record 31-ton shipment of cocaine transported from South America through the West African coastline.
“I was able to coordinate through our interagency in the United States, through AFRICOM, and then notify some of the partners. And eventually it was a Spanish ship that interdicted the ship that had 31 tons of cocaine on it, and it turns out is the largest interdiction of drugs at sea that we’ve ever seen,” Anderson said.
He added that continued collaboration among African governments, international allies and private-sector stakeholders would be vital to addressing security challenges while promoting economic growth and attracting investment across the continent.
The United States deployed about 200 troops to Nigeria in February 2026 to support intelligence, surveillance and counterterrorism operations in the Lake Chad Basin amid closer security cooperation between both countries against ISIS and other extremist groups.
The deployment followed President Donald Trump’s decision to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern and his pledge to strengthen U.S. support for Nigeria’s counterterrorism efforts.
On December 25, 2025, the U.S. carried out airstrikes on two terrorist camps in the Bauni Forest of Tangaza Local Government Area in Sokoto State.
The collaboration reached another milestone in May 2026 when a joint U.S.-Nigerian operation killed Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, identified as the second-in-command of ISIS, at his hideout in Borno State.