US Withdraws Troops From Nigeria’s Lake Chad, Retains Intelligence Support

The United States has withdrawn most of the military personnel it deployed for a joint counterterrorism operations in Nigeria’s Lake Chad region, but said it will continue intelligence sharing and other forms of security cooperation with the Nigerian government.

The Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, disclosed this on Thursday during a virtual press briefing on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026, where he highlighted the role of U.S.-Nigeria intelligence cooperation in counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State (ISIS/Daesh).

“And so that operation in the Lake Chad Basin of Nigeria not only helped the countries in that immediate region, but it also helps countries globally as that disrupts the ISIS network.

“And so — and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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,” Anderson said.

The U.S. general described Nigeria as a capable partner with a strong military, saying that cooperation between the two countries had produced significant gains against ISIS.

According to him, intelligence support provided by the United States, combined with Nigerian military operations, culminated in a successful mission against the second-in-command of the global ISIS network.

“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 stressed that the outcome demonstrated the importance of intelligence cooperation rather than prolonged foreign troop deployments.

“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 sharing among African countries to tackle terrorism, illicit trafficking and other transnational crimes.

According to Anderson, effective communication and established partnerships recently led to the interception of a record 31-ton shipment of cocaine originating from South America and transiting along the West African coast.

“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 to be the largest interdiction of drugs at sea that we’ve ever seen,” he said.

He added that sustained cooperation among African countries, international partners and the private sector would remain essential in addressing security threats while promoting economic stability and investment across the continent.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the United States deployed about 200 military personnel to Nigeria in February 2026 to support intelligence, surveillance and counterterrorism operations in the Lake Chad Basin amid growing security cooperation between Washington and Abuja against ISIS and other terrorist groups operating in the region.

The deployment followed the redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by U.S. President Donald Trump, who pledged to strengthen U.S. support for Nigeria’s fight against terrorism.

On December 25, 2025, the United States carried out airstrikes on two terrorist enclaves in the Bauni Forest in the Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

The security partnership reached a major milestone in May 2026 when a joint U.S.-Nigerian operation killed Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, the second-in-command of ISIS, at his hideout in Borno State.