United States has withdrawn most of the troops it deployed for a joint counterterrorism mission in Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin, while maintaining intelligence-sharing and other security cooperation with the Nigerian government.
The Commander of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, disclosed this during a digital press briefing on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026.
According to Anderson, the military operation in the Lake Chad Basin has ended, prompting the withdrawal of most US personnel assigned to the mission.
General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, commander of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, disclosed this during a digital press briefing on the outcome of the African Chiefs of Defence Conference 2026.
But, he stressed that the partnership with Nigeria remains active through intelligence collaboration requested by the Nigerian government.
He said: “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.
“And so — and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the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.”
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