The United States has sent a military team to Nigeria as part of an expanded effort to assist the country in combating Islamic State–linked terrorist groups amid escalating violence against Christians.
A senior U.S. military commander told Reuters that the deployment was carried out with the consent of the Nigerian government and reflects deepening security cooperation between United States and Nigeria.
A former U.S. official familiar with the mission said the team’s primary role involves intelligence collection and providing operational support to Nigerian forces as they pursue extremist targets.
President Donald Trump previously ordered airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Nigeria in December and warned that additional military action could follow.
According to U.S. Africa Command, the December strike was carried out in Nigeria’s Sokoto State in coordination with Nigerian authorities and resulted in the deaths of multiple Islamic State fighters.
In late October, Trump publicly criticized Nigeria’s government for failing to safeguard Christian communities, characterizing the growing violence as an “existential threat” to Christianity in parts of the country.
U.S. involvement had already expanded prior to the troop deployment, with American forces conducting surveillance flights over Nigeria from neighboring Ghana since at least late November.
Nigeria’s military has been engaged in a protracted campaign against insurgent groups operating in the northwest and northeast, where Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have carried out repeated attacks on civilians and security forces.
The insurgency, now in its 17th year, began in northeastern Nigeria before spreading across the country, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions. The northwest has increasingly become a base for ISWAP fighters and remnants of Boko Haram, who continue to stage deadly ambushes against villages and military units.
In Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, years of communal violence have left thousands dead and forced the displacement of many predominantly Christian farming communities.
Security concerns have intensified further with the emergence of a group known as Lakurawa, which is believed to have ties to Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM). The group is reported to possess advanced weaponry and to promote a radical Islamist ideology.
The World Watch List 2026 published by Open Doors reported last month that of the 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith during the reporting period, 3,490 were in Nigeria.
Last year, Trump announced plans for the U.S. State Department to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” a status reserved for nations deemed to tolerate or commit severe violations of religious freedom.
