US completes Nigeria mission, withdraws most troops

The United States has withdrawn the majority of its military personnel from Nigeria after concluding a months-long counterterrorism mission in the Lake Chad Basin, marking the end of a deployment launched earlier this year to support Nigerian forces against extremist groups.
About 200 American troops were deployed to Nigeria in February 2026 to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support as well as specialised training for Nigerian security personnel battling the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and other terrorist organisations operating across the Lake Chad region.
Commander of the US Air Forces in Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, confirmed that t...