U.S. troops run in formation at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., on Nov. 21, 2025. The Pentagon is sending about 200 service members to Nigeria in the coming weeks to help train local military forces battling militants, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported Tuesday. (Maximiliano Rosas/U.S. Marine Corps)
The U.S. is sending about 200 service members to Nigeria in the coming weeks to train local military forces battling Islamist militants, according to two major American news outlets.
Troops will be assigned to various locations in the country and will not be involved in combat operations, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported, citing unidentified U.S. military officials.
U.S. Africa Command did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
Last week, U.S. Africa Command’s Gen. Dagvin Anderson said a small team of military specialists was already operating in Nigeria.
The troops bring “unique capabilities from the United States in order to augment what Nigeria has been doing for several years,” Anderson told reporters during a Feb. 3 news conference.
The arrival of U.S. forces in Nigeria coincided with increased coordination between the countries in the wake of Christmas Day airstrikes ordered by President Donald Trump, who has said that Islamic militants were the target of the retaliatory strikes.
“I have previously warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” Trump said in a statement afterward.
The security situation in Nigeria, particularly in its northern region, has been in disarray for over a decade. Various Islamic militants, such as those from the group Boko Haram, have long been active in that region.
Both Christians and Muslims have been victims of attacks by the groups.
