We’re increasing intelligence, equipment support for Nigeria — US military

The US military is increasing materiel deliveries and intelligence sharing with Nigeria, Africom’s deputy commander told AFP, as part of a broader American push to work with African militaries to go after Islamic State-linked militants.

The Pentagon has also kept open lines of communication with militaries in the junta-led Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali, Lieutenant General John Brennan said.

The increased cooperation with Abuja follows Washington’s diplomatic pressure on Nigeria over jihadist violence in the country, but also as the US military is becoming “more aggressive” in pursuing IS-linked targets on the continent.

Under the Trump administration, “we’ve gotten a lot more aggressive and (are) working with partners to target, kinetically, the threats, mainly ISIS,” Brennan said in an interview on the sidelines of a US-Nigeria security meeting in the Nigerian capital last week.

Diplomatic clash 

Though both militaries seem keen on increased cooperation after the joint strikes, hanging over it all is diplomatic pressure by Washington over what Trump claims is the mass killing of Christians in Nigeria.

Abuja and independent analysts reject that framing of Nigeria’s myriad, overlapping conflicts, which has long been used by the US religious right.

Charged politics were on display at the Joint Working Group meeting in Abuja, where Allison Hooker, the number three at the State Department, pushed the Nigerian government “to protect Christians” in a speech that did not mention Muslim victims of armed groups.

Africa’s most populous country is roughly evenly split between a mostly Muslim north and a mostly Christian south. Though millions live side by side peacefully, religious and ethnic identity remains a sensitive topic in a country that has seen sectarian violence throughout its history.

Brennan told AFP that US intelligence would not be limited to protecting Christians.

He also said that following the US strikes in northwestern Sokoto state, American support going forward would focus on intelligence sharing to aid Nigerian air strikes there, as well as the northeast, where a jihadist insurgency by Boko Haram and rival breakaway ISWAP has raged since 2009.

Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is “our most concerning group”, he said.

Security cooperation has been curtailed since coups toppled civilian governments across the three countries from 2020 to 2023.

“We have actually shared information with some of them to attack key terrorist targets,” he said. “We still talk to our military partners across the Sahelian states, even though it’s not official.”

Brennan also said the US is not seeking to replace its bases in Niger after its troops were pushed out by the ruling junta.

“We’re not in the market to create a drone base anywhere,” he said, referencing the shuttered US drone operations in Agadez.

“We are much more focused on getting capability to the right place at the right time and then leaving. We don’t seek long-term basing in any of the western African countries.”

AFP