The Commander of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson says that the United States has withdrawn its military forces deployed for a joint counterterrorism operation in Nigeria but continues intelligence sharing and other forms of security cooperation with Nigeria.
General Anderson who made this disclosure on Thursday at a press briefing on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026, noted that while the specific military operation had ended and most US personnel involved had left, America remained committed to supporting Nigeria through intelligence collaboration at the request of the Nigerian government.
He, however, highlighted the role of US-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; it also helped countries globally as that disrupted the ISIS network.
“And then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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 Commander described Nigeria as a capable partner with a strong military and observed with delight that the cooperation between both countries had yielded significant results against ISIS.
General Anderson pointed out that US intelligence support, combined with Nigerian military efforts, led to a successful operation against the second-in-command of the ISIS global network.
