The United States plans to deploy about 200 troops to Nigeria to train the country’s military in its fight against Islamist militants, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, weeks after President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes on what he described as Islamic State targets.
The deployment would bolster a small number of U.S. personnel already on the ground in Nigeria, the official said, adding that the troops would focus on training and support roles for local forces.
The U.S. military last week confirmed that it had sent a limited team of troops to Nigeria without disclosing their number, marking the first public acknowledgment of American forces operating in the country since U.S. airstrikes on Christmas Day.
Trump has indicated that further U.S. military action in Nigeria remains possible. Reuters has previously reported that U.S. forces have been conducting surveillance flights over Nigeria from neighboring Ghana since at least late November.
U.S. Africa Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Washington has intensified pressure on Abuja in recent months, with Trump alleging that Nigeria has failed to adequately protect Christian communities from Islamist militants operating in parts of the country. Nigerian authorities deny any systematic persecution, saying security forces are targeting armed groups responsible for attacks on both Christians and Muslims.
Militants linked to Boko Haram and the Islamic State affiliate Islamic State West Africa Province have stepped up assaults on civilians and military convoys, particularly in northern regions that remain the center of a 17-year insurgency.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with more than 230 million people, is roughly evenly divided between Christians, who largely live in the south, and Muslims, who are concentrated in the north.