Washington to Deploy 200 Troops to Help Nigeria Fight Islamist Insurgents

The United States military is set to deploy approximately 200 soldiers to Nigeria within the coming weeks to bolster the training of its armed forces in the fight against Islamist militants. The deployment comes just weeks after President Trump publicly criticized Nigeria over its failure to protect its Christian population from terrorist attacks, according to a U.S. official who spoke on Tuesday.

The troops will augment a small team of U.S. forces who have been in the West African nation for weeks, assisting local soldiers with identifying potential terrorist targets for strikes using American and Nigerian intelligence, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

The new troops, whose impending deployment was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, will be assigned to locations across the country to provide troop training and technical expertise, the official said. The U.S. troops will not be involved in combat operations, the official added.

Relations between Nigeria and the United States took a startling turn after Mr. Trump late last year threatened to enter Nigeria “guns-a-blazing,” to avenge what he has called a “Christian genocide.” Weeks later, on Christmas Day, Navy warships aided by Nigerian intelligence launched 16 Tomahawk missiles at what Mr. Trump said was the “terrorist scum” responsible for killing Nigerian Christians.

The strike was the explosive outcome of an intense, years-long push led by Christian activists, Republican lawmakers, and American celebrities seeking U.S. intervention in a long-simmering security crisis in Nigeria.

Thousands of Muslims and Christians alike have been killed as part of a campaign of violence and land disputes. The violence involves battles over land, kidnappings for ransom, sectarian tensions and terrorism, but the activists wanted Mr. Trump to see the conflict through a single lens: the persecution of Christians.

The activists have seized on his support to orchestrate a rapid shift in U.S. foreign policy toward Nigeria, with major consequences for the country, including the threat of more bombings.

U.S. military leaders who for years have complained about prickly relations with the Nigerian military say the shift has opened the door to increased intelligence sharing and military planning, and now additional training. U.S. surveillance planes from Ghana regularly fly over contested Nigerian territory and relay data to teams of American and Nigerian military analysts drawing up potential terrorist targets for strikes.

Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, the head of the military’s Africa Command, met with senior Nigerian officials this month. His deputy, Lt. Gen. John Brennan, was in Nigeria’s capital last month to announce a closer military partnership between the two nations.

Just how effective the increased U.S. involvement in Nigeria has been or will be is an open question.

The Tomahawk missiles fired on Dec. 25, valued at about $32 million, hit northwest Nigeria, an overwhelmingly Muslim area. U.S. military officials are still assessing the damage, but said that more than three dozen Islamic State-affiliated terrorists were flushed out and later arrested by Nigerian authorities.

Residents have said the missiles hit empty fields and vacant militant hide-outs.

Africa Command said it was helping Nigeria in its campaign against several extremist groups, including Boko Haram and another known as Islamic State’s West Africa Province.

“Africa Command is working with our Nigerian and regional partners to increase counterterrorism cooperation efforts related to ongoing violence and threats against innocent lives,” General Anderson said in a statement after the December strikes. “Our goal is to protect Americans and disrupt violent extremist organizations wherever they are.”

New York Times