By: Manoah Kikekon
The United States military has successfully withdrawn the majority of its forces deployed to Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin following the conclusion of a highly strategic, high-impact joint counterterrorism operation.
The announcement was made by the Commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, during a digital press briefing marking the conclusion of the 2026 African Chiefs of Defense Conference in Luanda, Angola.
The mission, which began in February 2026 with the deployment of approximately 200 elite U.S. military personnel, aimed to dismantle escalating threats from the Islamic State (ISIS/Daesh) and associated extremist networks in the volatile border region.
General Anderson confirmed that with the core objectives of the localized tactical operation fulfilled, the specialized personnel have rotated back to Washington D.C., though the foundational security alliance remains fully intact.
“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 And so and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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.” General Anderson, said.
The temporary troop deployment followed a sharp increase in bilateral defense ties after U.S. President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, vowing aggressive support to eliminate terrorist enclaves.
The security architecture yielded swift, devastating results. On December 25, 2025, U.S. assets executed targeted airstrikes destroying two major terrorist strongholds in the Bauni Forest, located within the Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The peak of the joint campaign, however, culminated in the successful elimination of Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, the global second-in-command of ISIS, who was neutralized at his hidden base of operations in Borno State. Al-Minuki was heavily responsible for steering the terrorist group's global recruitment, media operations, and international strategy.
General Anderson lauded Nigeria’s defense infrastructure, describing the West African nation as an exceptionally capable regional superpower with an advanced military capable of absorbing and executing complex joint-force strategies.
“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..." General Anderson, Said.
The AFRICOM chief elaborated on the exact nature of the collaborative victory:
"...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. 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.” General Anderson, Commander added.
Beyond regional counterterrorism, General Anderson advocated for an aggressive, pan-African intelligence-sharing framework to combat transnational organized crime and maritime smuggling.
To illustrate the immense power of shared intelligence, Anderson pointed to a historic maritime operation along the West African coast, where a U.S. interagency tip-off led to the single largest drug bust ever recorded at sea.
“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.”.General Anderson, noted.