Is the US deepening its military involvement in Nigeria?

Joint US and Nigerian airstrikes in Nigeria’s northeast killed at least 175 fighters of the Islamic State terror group, including the group’s global second-in-command. US Africa Command reported the deaths and described Nigeria’s role in developing targets, providing intelligence, and offering support. Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu thanked US President Donald Trump and said he expected more decisive strikes against terrorist enclaves. US involvement in Nigeria has increased in recent months, prompting questions about the depth, scale, and nature of the arrangement. A Nigerian governance researcher said US troop presence was intended to be limited to intelligence gathering and training, excluding combat operations, and criticized a lack of transparency about troop roles.

"Joint airstrikes by the US and Nigeria have killed at least 175 fighters of the so-called Islamic State (IS) terror group in Nigeria's northeast. The jihadist group's global second-in-command was among those killed, according to the US Africa Command (AFRICOM). Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu was quick to thank US President Donald Trump for his leadership and unwavering support, saying he looked forward to more such "decisive strikes against terrorist enclaves.""

"AFRICOM commander General Dagvin Anderson told a Congressional hearing in Washington that Nigeria had been "instrumental throughout the last several months, developing the target, helping us with the intelligence, and providing support" as per the remit of the cooperation between the two countries, which dates back almost 20 years. However, in recent months, under the initiative of Tinubu, the US involvement in Nigeria, especially its ongoing security affairs, has increased, raising questions about the depth, scale and nature of the current arrangement."

"Malik Samuel, a senior researcher at Good Governance Africa in Nigeria, regards the present US engagement critically, stressing that the presence of US troops in Nigeria was supposed to be "limited to intelligence-gathering support, [and] training, ruling out combat operations for the troops." "But with reports, especially in the US media, saying that US troops were actually deployed for this purpose, this clearly shows that the Nigerian government has not ben transparent with regards to the exact roles that the US troops will be playing.""

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