By Joke Kujenya
MOST UNITED States troops deployed for a joint counterterrorism mission in Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin have been withdrawn following the conclusion of the operation, while intelligence sharing and other security support for Nigeria will continue.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that the Commander of US Air Forces in Europe Air Forces Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, disclosed this on Thursday during a digital press briefing on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference (ACDC) 2026.
Anderson said the operation in the Lake Chad Basin had ended, leading to the withdrawal of most American personnel involved in the mission.
He also said the US would continue the partnership requested by the Nigerian government through intelligence sharing and other support.
“And so that operation in the Lake Chad Basin of Nigeria not only helped the countries in that immediate region; it also helps countries globally as that disrupts the ISIS network,” Anderson said.
“And so, and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the intelligence sharing and the understanding that’s necessary to be able to prosecute these difficult tasks,” he added.
Anderson described Nigeria as a capable partner with a strong military, saying cooperation between both countries had produced gains in operations against ISIS or Daesh.
He said intelligence support from the US, combined with Nigeria’s military efforts, contributed to a cooperative operation against the second in command of the global ISIS network.
“I think the partnership that we’ve shown recently with Nigeria, where Nigeria’s a very capable and large country. It’s got a strong economy. It’s got a large, educated population. It’s got a very capable military.
“But there are things that we have learned in the counterterrorist fight over several years that we were able to assist and integrate with them to help them with their intelligence and help with the intelligence sharing that eventually led to a cooperative effort to where we were able to bring some unique capabilities that the U.S. brings and be able to prosecute together the number two leader within the ISIS or Daesh organization who is responsible for much of their global operations, their global media, and their recruiting,” he said.
Anderson said the mission demonstrated how the US intends to engage with partners by providing capabilities that support their operations.
“So I think as we go forward, that is an example of how we’re looking at engaging with partners to help them be more effective by only bringing unique U.S. capabilities that allow the partner to be effective in these fights,” he said.
He also called for stronger intelligence cooperation among African countries to tackle terrorism, illicit trafficking and other cross border crimes.
JKNewsMedia.com also reports that according to Anderson, recent coordination through US agencies, AFRICOM and partner countries led to the interception of a record 31-ton cocaine shipment that originated from South America and moved through the West African coast.
“I was able to coordinate through our interagency in the United States, through AFRICOM, and then notify some of the partners. And eventually it was a Spanish ship that interdicted the ship that had 31 tons of cocaine on it, and it turns out is the largest interdiction of drugs at sea that we’ve ever seen,” Anderson said.
He added that continued cooperation among African countries, foreign partners and the private sector would remain important in addressing security threats while supporting economic stability and investment across the continent.
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