Counterterrorism and Boko Haram

The U.S. military has deployed MQ‑9 Reaper drones and about 200 troops to Bauchi Airfield in northeastern Nigeria to support Nigerian forces amid fears of a renewed Boko Haram‑led insurgency, U.S. officials told the Associated Press and Fox News. U.S. Africa Command says the personnel are working "alongside their Nigerian counterparts" to provide intelligence support, advisory assistance and targeted training rather than conducting declared combat operations, and that the drones will be used for surveillance and training despite their strike capability. The move follows U.S. airstrikes on Islamic State–linked militants in Nigeria on Dec. 26, 2025, and a series of suspected suicide bombings in Maiduguri earlier this month that killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 100, underscoring the persistence of Boko Haram, its IS‑aligned offshoot ISWAP, and other armed groups. Stationing U.S. drones and troops on Nigerian soil deepens Washington’s security partnership with Africa’s most populous nation and raises questions about mission creep, civilian‑casualty risks, and how far the Trump administration is willing to go in another counterterror front while already engaged in major operations in the Middle East.