The United States is said to be planning to withdraw approximately 200 troops from Nigeria by the end of September, marking a shift in its counterterrorism mission as American officials highlight notable advancements in combating Islamist militants.
As reported by The New York Times, the Pentagon intends to carry out this withdrawal late next month. These troops, deployed earlier in the year, have been assisting Nigerian forces through intelligence sharing, training, and various counterterrorism activities.
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Despite the relatively small size of the deployment, both US and Nigerian officials have indicated that it yielded significant improvements, especially in intelligence cooperation and counterterrorism efforts.
Nonetheless, this withdrawal will not terminate US military collaboration with Nigeria; smaller teams of trainers and intelligence analysts are expected to stay on in Nigeria to continue assisting local security forces.
This development follows a May operation in the Lake Chad Basin that reportedly resulted in the death of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the identified second-in-command of ISIS. AFRICOM commander Dagvin Anderson remarked that this operation had considerably weakened ISIS’ leadership.
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Anderson added that Nigeria is actively engaged in preventing terrorists from operating independently, and he emphasized that the US will maintain its intelligence partnership with Nigeria even as troop numbers decrease.
The troop reduction occurs amidst ongoing security cooperation between Abuja and Washington, which includes discussions on counterterrorism and safeguarding vulnerable communities.
