Nigeria confirms US troop withdrawal

A smaller advisory and intelligence team will remain in the West African country, a military spokesperson has said Nigeria has confirmed that around 200 US troops deployed to support its fight against armed groups will begin leaving the West African country, with most expected to withdraw by late September.

A smaller advisory and intelligence team will remain, while cooperation in training and information sharing will continue, Nigerian military spokesperson Major General Samaila Uba said on Tuesday.

“The deployment of United States personnel was tied to specific operational and counterterrorism objectives,” Uba said, according to AP.

The troops arrived in February to provide intelligence, targeting, and training support.

Washington subsequently deployed MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drones to Bauchi Airfield in northeastern Nigeria.

The mission came after US President Donald Trump accused the Nigerian authorities of failing to protect Christians and threatened military action.

Nigeria rejected claims that Christians were being systematically targeted, saying jihadist violence, banditry, and communal conflicts affect citizens of different faiths.

READ MORE: US military presence yielded no success in Nigeria – politician The two countries conducted coordinated airstrikes against alleged Islamic State fighters in Sokoto State in December 2025.

In May, Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters and US Africa Command said a joint operation in the Lake Chad Basin killed senior Islamic State figure Abu-Bilal al-Minuki.

Trump described him as the group’s second-highest-ranking leader globally.

US Africa Command chief General Dagvin Anderson announced in July that most of the American troops had been withdrawn, saying the campaign had successfully degraded Islamic State’s leadership and disrupted its wider network.

Samuel Memeh, chairman of Nigeria’s Democratic Leadership Alliance, disputed that assessment.

Memeh told RT that the deployment had produced no significant improvement in security and argued that foreign forces alone could not defeat the country’s armed groups.

READ MORE: The illusion of stability: Why foreign airstrikes can’t stop the terror Nigeria continues to face overlapping threats from Boko Haram and its Islamic State-affiliated offshoot in the northeast, armed bandits operating across the northwest and central regions, and intercommunal violence.