As Washington expands military ties with the West African nation, Nigerian and US officials said Tuesday that the US would send 200 troops to Nigeria to train its armed forces in their battle against Islamist organizations.
Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters spokesperson, Major General Samaila Uba, told AFP, “We are receiving US troops to help with training and technical support.”
The deployment, which will support a small US team currently in the country to help the Nigerians with air strike targeting, was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
According to the US daily, the extra troops, which are anticipated to arrive in the upcoming weeks, would offer “training and technical guidance,” including by assisting their Nigerian colleagues in coordinating operations that concurrently involve ground forces and airstrikes.
The report’s specifics were verified to AFP by a spokesperson for the US Africa Command.
The United States has been applying diplomatic pressure to Nigeria due to the country’s insecurity, which US President Donald Trump has called “persecution” and “genocide” against Christians.
Trump’s senior counselor on Arab and African matters, Massad Boulos, stated last year that Boko Haram and Islamic State “are killing more Muslims than Christians,” despite the fact that Christians are occasionally singled out.
Abuja disputes claims that Christians are persecuted in Nigeria, a narrative that the US religious right has long employed.
Independent analysts agree, pointing to a larger official failure to stop armed gangs and Islamist organizations from committing acts of violence throughout large areas of the thinly regulated countryside.
The United States and Nigeria have reached an agreement to increase military cooperation in spite of diplomatic pressure.
In a coordinated operation with Nigeria, the United States launched strikes in December against extremists in northwest Sokoto state, according to authorities from both nations.
The U.S. military has stated that it will accelerate arms sales and provide intelligence for Nigerian airstrikes in the future.
“US troops aren’t going to be involved in direct combat or operations,” Uba told the Journal, despite the fact that the 200-troop deployment is an expansion of that cooperation.
He stated that Nigeria asked for the extra help.
The most populous nation in Africa is dealing with a protracted Islamist insurgency that is centered in the northeast, while non-ideological “bandit” gangs rob communities in the northwest and abduct people for ransom.
The primary reason of violence among Muslim Fulani herders and primarily Christian farmers in the country’s center, according to academics, is access to diminishing resources and land.
