US to withdraw 200 troops from Nigeria as counterterrorism operation winds down
The United States is preparing to withdraw about 200 troops deployed to Nigeria as part of efforts to combat Islamist militants, according to a report by The New York Times.
The troops, deployed earlier this year, are expected to leave Nigeria by the end of September as Washington scales down its counterterrorism mission in the country.
US and Nigerian officials told the newspaper that although the deployment was relatively small, it produced significant results in the fight against Islamist insurgents.
However, small teams of US military trainers and intelligence analysts are expected to remain in Nigeria after the withdrawal of the larger contingent.
US military officials reportedly described the deployment as a potential model for future American counterterrorism operations in Africa.
Last month, Dagvin Anderson, commander of the US Africa Command, AFRICOM, said Washington had already withdrawn a significant number of its troops from Nigeria following a May operation that killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, identified as the second-in-command of ISIS, in the Lake Chad Basin.
Anderson said the operation had significantly weakened ISIS leadership both in Nigeria and globally.
He also said Nigeria had remained “very active” since the operation, particularly in efforts to disrupt terrorists’ ability to sustain themselves.
According to the AFRICOM commander, the US would maintain its intelligence-sharing partnership with Nigeria despite the troop reduction.
The planned withdrawal comes weeks after the US and Nigeria held their second round of talks in Washington under a joint working group established to address the protection of Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
The working group was created following US President Donald Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern over allegations of persecution and genocide against Christians.
The Nigerian government has rejected the suggestion that insecurity in the country is driven by a single factor, maintaining that the violence has multiple causes.
Ladd Serwat, Africa senior analyst at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, ACLED, previously told TheCable that Islamist militant groups account for only a small proportion of the overall violence recorded in Nigeria.
The country faces a complex mix of security threats, including terrorism spreading from neighbouring Sahelian countries, banditry in the north-west, attacks by ISWAP, ISIS and Boko Haram, farmer-herder clashes, cult violence and activities by various militias.
Serwat described Nigeria’s security situation as “a very complicated security situation.”
