The United States has scaled back its military presence in Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin following the conclusion of a joint counterterrorism operation, but says it will continue working closely with Nigerian authorities through intelligence sharing and security cooperation.
General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, Commander of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, made the disclosure during a virtual briefing on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026.
He explained that although the mission in the Lake Chad Basin has ended and most American personnel involved have departed, the US remains committed to assisting Nigeria in tackling terrorism through ongoing intelligence support.
“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.
“And so — and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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.
He praised Nigeria’s military capabilities, describing the country as a key regional partner with a strong security force capable of confronting extremist threats.
According to Anderson, collaboration between both countries played a crucial role in a successful operation that eliminated the second-highest-ranking leader of ISIS, who was responsible for the group’s international operations, propaganda and recruitment.
“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.
