The US military is increasing material deliveries and intelligence sharing with Nigeria, as part of a broader American push to work with African militaries to go after ISIS-linked militants.
– The Pentagon has also kept open lines of communication with militaries in the junta-led Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.
– The increased cooperation with Abuja follows Washington’s diplomatic pressure on Nigeria over extremist violence in the country, but also as the US military is becoming “more aggressive” in pursuing ISIS-linked targets on the continent.
– Under the Trump administration, “we’ve gotten a lot more aggressive and (are) working with partners to target, kinetically, the threats, mainly ISIS,”Lieutenant General John Brennan said.
– “From Somalia to Nigeria, the problem set is connected. So we’re trying to take it apart and then provide partners with the information they need,” he added.
– “It’s been about more enabling partners and then providing them equipment and capabilities with less restrictions so that they can be more successful.”
– Last week’s inaugural US-Nigeria Joint Working Group meeting came roughly a month after the US announced surprise Christmas Day strikes on ISIS-linked targets in northwest Nigeria.
– Though both militaries seem keen on increased cooperation after the joint strikes, hanging over it all is diplomatic pressure by Washington over what Trump claims is the mass killing of Christians in Nigeria.
– Following the US strikes in northwestern Sokoto state, American support going forward would focus on intelligence sharing to aid Nigerian air strikes there, as well as the northeast, where an extremist insurgency by Boko Haram and rival breakaway ISWAP has raged since 2009.
– Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is “our most concerning group,” he said.
– US-Nigerian cooperation going forward will involve “the whole gamut of intel sharing, sharing… tactics, techniques, and procedures, as well as enabling them to procure more equipment,” Brennan said.
– The initial strikes targeted militants linked to ISIS Sahel Province, typically active in neighboring Niger, Brennan said.
– In the Sahel more widely, Brennan said “we still collaborate” with the junta-led governments in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which have broken away from their west African neighbors and largely shunned the West.
– Security cooperation has been curtailed since coups toppled civilian governments across the three countries from 2020 to 2023.
– “We have actually shared information with some of them to attack key terrorist targets,” he said. “We still talk to our military partners across the Sahelian states, even though it’s not official.”
– Brennan also said the US is not seeking to replace its bases in Niger after its troops were pushed out by the ruling junta.
– “We’re not in the market to create a drone base anywhere,” he said, referencing the shuttered US drone operations in Agadez.
– “We are much more focused on getting capability to the right place at the right time and then leaving. We don’t seek long-term basing in any of the western African countries.”