The United States will deploy 200 troops to Nigeria to train the West African country’s military in its fight against jihadist groups, a US Africa Command official said on Tuesday.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the deployment will supplement a small team already in the country providing assistance with airstrike targeting.
The larger team, expected to arrive in the coming weeks, will provide “training and technical guidance”, including helping Nigerian forces coordinate operations involving both air strikes and ground troops simultaneously, the US daily reported.
When asked by AFP, a US Africa Command spokeswoman confirmed, “This article is accurate.”
Nigeria has been under diplomatic pressure from the United States over insecurity in the country, which US President Donald Trump has described as “persecution” and “genocide” against Christians.
Although there are cases in which Christians are specifically targeted, Muslims are also killed. Trump’s senior advisor on Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, said last year that Boko Haram and Islamic State “are killing more Muslims than Christians.”
Abuja rejects allegations of Christian persecution in Nigeria, a long-standing right-wing talking point. Independent analysts attribute the violence instead to broader state failures in curbing attacks by jihadist groups and armed gangs across sparsely governed regions.
Despite the diplomatic tensions, Nigeria and the United States have increased military collaboration.
The US targeted militants in northwest Sokoto state with strikes in December, with Nigerian assistance, officials from both countries said.
The US military has also pledged to supply intelligence for Nigerian air strikes going forward and to expedite arms purchases.
While the deployment of 200 troops increases the scale of that cooperation, “US troops aren’t going to be involved in direct combat or operations,” Samaila Uba, a spokesman for Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, told the Journal.
Nigeria requested the additional assistance, Uba said.
Africa’s most populous country is battling a long-running jihadist insurgency concentrated in the northeast, while non-ideological “bandit” gangs conduct kidnappings for ransom and raid villages in the northwest.
In central Nigeria, violence erupts mainly between Christian farmers and Muslim Fulani herders, although researchers say the main cause is competition over dwindling land and resources.
