US Steps Up Military Action, Intelligence Sharing With Nigeria

The United States military has stepped up material deliveries and intelligence sharing with Nigeria as part of a broader push to counter Islamic State-linked militants across Africa, the deputy commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), Lieutenant General John Brennan, has said.

Speaking in an interview with AFP on the sidelines of a US–Nigeria security meeting held in Abuja last week, Brennan said the Pentagon was also maintaining communication with the militaries of junta-led Sahel countries, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali despite strained diplomatic relations.

The enhanced cooperation with Nigeria followed sustained diplomatic pressure from Washington over jihadist violence in the country, as well as a more assertive US military posture on the continent.

“Under the Trump administration, we’ve gotten a lot more aggressive and (are) working with partners to target, kinetically, the threats, mainly ISIS,” Brennan said.

He added that militant activities across Africa were interconnected. “From Somalia to Nigeria, the problem set is connected. So we’re trying to take it apart and then provide partners with the information they need.”

According to Brennan, the US approach now prioritises enabling partner forces. “It’s been about more enabling partners and then providing them equipment and capabilities with less restrictions so that they can be more successful.”

The comments came weeks after the United States carried out surprise Christmas Day airstrikes on Islamic State linked targets in northwestern Nigeria. The strikes preceded the inaugural meeting of the US–Nigeria Joint Working Group, signaling renewed security cooperation between both countries.

However, the partnership continues to be overshadowed by diplomatic tensions, particularly Washington’s claims, championed by former President Donald Trump that Christians are being targeted for mass killings in Nigeria. The Nigerian government and several independent analysts have rejected that framing, arguing that Nigeria’s security challenges are complex and driven by overlapping factors beyond religion.

These sensitivities were evident at the Abuja meeting, where Allison Hooker, a senior US State Department official, urged Nigeria “to protect Christians” in a speech that did not reference Muslim victims of armed groups.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is almost evenly divided between a predominantly Muslim north and a largely Christian south. While millions coexist peacefully, religious and ethnic identities remain highly sensitive due to the country’s history of sectarian violence.

Brennan sought to clarify that US intelligence support would not be religion-specific. He said American assistance following the Sokoto strikes would focus on intelligence sharing to support Nigerian air operations in both the northwest and the northeast, where Boko Haram and its Islamic State-aligned splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have waged an insurgency since 2009.

ISWAP, Brennan said, was “our most concerning group”.

Analysts have recently tracked US intelligence flights over Nigeria, though some experts question whether air power alone can significantly weaken armed groups operating in regions marked by poverty and weak state presence.

Looking ahead, Brennan said cooperation would cover a broad range of support. “The whole gamut of intel sharing, sharing… tactics, techniques, and procedures, as well as enabling them to procure more equipment,” he said.

He disclosed that the initial US strikes targeted militants linked to Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), a group typically active in neighbouring Niger. Analysts have warned of the group’s potential expansion from the Sahel into coastal West African states, including Nigeria.

The impact of the strikes remains unclear, with journalists unable to independently verify militant casualties.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, said last week that the assessment was “still a work in progress”.

Beyond Nigeria, Brennan said the US continues limited cooperation with Sahelian militaries despite the coups that swept through Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger between 2020 and 2023, leading to reduced formal security ties.

“We have actually shared information with some of them to attack key terrorist targets,” he said. “We still talk to our military partners across the Sahelian states, even though it’s not official.”

Brennan also ruled out plans to establish new US military bases in the region following the closure of American drone operations in Agadez, Niger.

“We’re not in the market to create a drone base anywhere,” he said. “We are much more focused on getting capability to the right place at the right time and then leaving. We don’t seek long-term basing in any of the western African countries.”