The first batch of United States troops, alongside several military aircraft, has arrived in north-east Nigeria ahead of a coordinated military operation targeting Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters in the region.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to reports by The New York Times, a US military aircraft landed in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, late on Thursday night.
By Friday evening, three aircraft were already stationed at the base, with equipment being offloaded from at least one of them. Additional aircraft were also reported to have landed at other air force bases across northern Nigeria.
Brant Philip, a counter-terrorism researcher, said the deployment is part of a broader security operation in West Africa, revealing that six US Air Force cargo planes were dispatched to the region within the past week.
He stated that one aircraft stopped in Ghana, while five proceeded directly to Nigeria. A sixth aircraft reportedly arrived on Saturday and is expected to move towards the north-east.
Philip added that one C-17A aircraft landed at the Kainji Airbase, while three C-17A planes and one C-130J-30 aircraft touched down at the Maiduguri Airbase. He said all the aircraft departed their previous bases on the same day they arrived in Nigeria.
“Maiduguri Airbase will likely be the primary base of operations for supporting the Nigerian army against ISWAP,” he said.
He explained that Maiduguri remains a strategic location, as ISWAP currently controls large parts of rural Borno. According to him, the deliveries may include MQ-9 Reaper drones, attack helicopters, military hardware, and a significant number of troops.
Earlier in the week, Reuters reported that the United States planned to deploy about 200 troops to Nigeria to provide training and operational support for Nigerian forces battling insurgency across several regions.
A US official said the incoming troops would reinforce a small number of American military personnel already stationed in the country.
The deployment follows a renewed security partnership between both countries, especially after US President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a country of particular concern over claims of Christian genocide, a move that reportedly triggered expanded military cooperation.
Last week, the Commander of the United States Africa Command, General Dagvin Anderson, visited Abuja, where he held high-level security meetings with President Bola Tinubu, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, Minister of Defence Christopher Musa, Chief of Defence Staff Olufemi Oluyede, Chief of Army Staff Waidi Shaibu, and other senior officials.
Discussions focused on strengthening joint security strategies, intelligence sharing, and coordinated operations aimed at countering terrorist groups threatening Nigeria, the wider West African region, and global security.
Anderson disclosed that some US forces had already been deployed under an expanded bilateral security agreement, noting that the troops would concentrate mainly on intelligence gathering, operational planning, and logistical support for Nigerian forces, though he declined to reveal their exact number.
The latest deployment is expected to boost Nigeria’s counter-terrorism operations, particularly in the north-east, where military authorities continue to battle ISWAP and other armed groups.
