The United States has expanded its security cooperation with Nigeria through the deployment of a special operations team to support ongoing counter-terrorism efforts in the country.
Gen. Dagvin Anderson, Commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), disclosed this during a digital news conference on Tuesday.
He said the decision followed discussions he earlier held in Rome with President Bola Tinubu, who later approved the Christmas Day U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in Nigeria.
Anderson said that he and Tinubu agreed that both countries needed to better coordinate their efforts in dealing decisively with the threat of terrorism in Nigeria and the ECOWAS sub-region.
“Our partnership with Nigeria is a great example of a very willing and capable partner, who requested the unique capabilities that only the U.S. can bring.
“We assist with some of the ISR, some of the intelligence fusion to bring that to bear together, and when we do that, we are much more effective to counter these threats.
“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 in order to augment what Nigeria has been doing for several years,” he said.
Anderson, however, did not provide details on the composition of the U.S. special team, which he confirmed was already operating in the country.
He stressed that wherever the U.S. finds a capable and willing partner like Nigeria, the fusion of shared capabilities guarantees progress in tackling terrorism.
“We’re looking at working in West Africa. I think a great example of that is the partnership we’ve had with Nigeria.
“My deputy was there just recently with a high-level delegation from the State Department, led by Allison Hooker, in order to look at how we can continue to move forward together,” he said.
He said West Africa and the Sahel were currently facing growing threats from terrorist groups such as Daesh, al-Qaida and JNIM.
“We’re seeing them apply more pressure in those areas, especially across the Sahel, threatening the capitals in the region and spilling into some coastal countries,” he said.
Anderson said he recently visited several West African countries along the Gulf of Guinea and shared their concerns as terrorism continues to expand.
According to him, AFRICOM’s counterterrorism strategy prioritises coordination with African partner nations.
“We will continue to engage with willing partners to address this common threat as we look across the region.
“Being able to counter these threats together has been, and remains, critical to our future,” he said.
He added that AFRICOM had also conducted counterterrorism campaigns in other parts of Africa, noting that long before the strikes in Nigeria, other sub-regions had remained on its radar.
In Somalia, he said ISIS had emerged as the second major terrorist group, alongside al-Shabab, which has been active for two decades.
“ISIS-Somalia fighters hiding in a remote mountain range in northern Somalia have been frequent targets of AFRICOM airstrikes.
“That campaign, combined with surveillance and logistics support, has enabled Somali partners to push back insurgents and restrict ISIS leadership operations,” Anderson said.
He also announced that the U.S. would host the largest joint military exercise involving Africa, Europe and the Middle East, tagged ‘African Lion 2026’, in Morocco in May.
The exercise will involve 19 African countries, six European forces and participants from the Middle East and Latin America, bringing the total to over 30 forces.
He said the exercise would highlight the scale of international security cooperation and reinforce collective resolve against evolving threats across the continent.