Reports indicate that the first batch of the 200 United States, US military personnel expected to be deployed to Nigeria to assist the nation’s forces in the ongoing counter terrorism operations have arrived.
A Sahel security expert, Brant Philip, disclosed in a post on his X handle on Sunday that the US troops will only provide training, advice, and intelligence analysis to their Nigerian counterparts.
He said the US military personnel “are also responsible for ensuring the steady delivery of ammunition and equipment to the Nigerian Army, which will likely consist primarily of munitions for the Nigerian Air Force, NAF.
Additional U.S. Air Force transport flights are expected to continue landing at three distinct locations in Nigeria. Two of these are almost certainly the Kainji and Maiduguri Airbases, with the latter being prioritized.
“Nigerian officials have insisted that U.S. troops deployed in Nigeria are there only to provide training, advice, and intelligence analysis”.
Giving more details about their specific mission, Brant Phillip said that, “Heavy United States military build-up in Nigeria for the past week in preparation of a potential US-backed offensive against Islamic State affiliate ISWAP in northeast Nigeria.
Between February 6 and 14, six US Air Force cargo planes landed in West Africa, all of them stopping in Accra, Ghana first. Five of them landed later on in Nigerian Air Force bases, while the sixth aircraft only arrived today and will likely follow the route towards the northeast as well.
– 1x C-17A to Kainji Airbase
– 1x C-130J-30 to Maiduguri Airbase, Borno
– 3x C-17A to Maiduguri Airbase, Borno
All of them left the respective bases on the same day they landed.
Maiduguri Airbase will likely be the primary base of operations for supporting the Nigerian army against ISWAP. This is a critical location as the IS affiliate currently controls most of Borno State rural areas.
The volume of the delivery and the type of aircraft used by the USAF indicates that very heavy equipment is being sent to Maiduguri Airbase, I suspect at least one or more MQ-9 Reaper drones, attack helicopters and of course a large number of US troops.
On February 10, American and Nigerian officials told WSJ that the US was to send 200 US troops to Nigeria.
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