U.S. Military and AFRICOM

The Nigerian military says roughly 100 U.S. troops and equipment have arrived in Nigeria at its request to train local forces, provide technical support and share intelligence as the country battles Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province and other armed groups. Nigerian Defense Headquarters spokesman Maj. Gen. Samaila Uba stressed that the Americans will not take part in combat or exercise command, with Nigerian forces retaining full operational control. The deployment follows December U.S. airstrikes on ISIS‑affiliated militants in northwestern Nigeria and a January visit by a small U.S. intelligence team, signaling a deepening but still limited U.S. role after tensions flared when President Trump accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from “genocide,” a claim analysts say badly oversimplifies the conflict. Nigeria faces a complex security crisis involving jihadist factions, kidnapping “bandit” networks and militants spilling over from the Sahel, with several thousand people killed in recent years—most of them Muslims in the north, according to U.N. data and local observers. For Washington, the move fits a broader pattern of relying on small advisory deployments and airpower against ISIS offshoots rather than large combat footprints, even as it risks drawing U.S. forces further into Nigeria’s fragmented wars.