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The United States has withdrawn most of its forces deployed for a counterterrorism operation in Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin but continues to share intelligence with Nigerian authorities, a senior US military official said Thursday.
General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, Commander of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, confirmed the troop withdrawal during a digital press briefing on the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026.
He said the operation had ended and most US personnel involved had departed, but Washington remained engaged in intelligence collaboration at Nigeria’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“And so — and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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.
Anderson noted that intelligence cooperation between the two nations had produced results against ISIS and characterised Nigeria as a capable partner with a powerful military.
He said US intelligence support, combined with Nigerian military efforts, contributed to the killing of Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, the second-in-command of the ISIS global network, in May 2026.
“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,” he said.
He also added, “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 organisation who is responsible for much of their global operations, their global media, and their recruiting.”
The general said the operation demonstrated the value of intelligence cooperation over long-term foreign military deployments.
He also called for stronger intelligence sharing among African countries to combat terrorism, illicit trafficking and other transnational crimes.
“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.
Anderson also noted that partnerships had contributed to the interception of 31 tons of cocaine off the West African coast, describing it as the largest drug seizure at sea recorded.
“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.
The United States deployed about 200 military personnel to Nigeria in February 2026 to support intelligence and counterterrorism operations in the Lake Chad Basin. The deployment followed President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
The joint operation culminated in the killing of Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, the second-in-command of ISIS, in Borno State in May 2026.
