U.S. and Nigerian forces intensify airstrikes against Islamic State militants

The latest airstrikes in northeastern Nigeria killed more than 20 Islamic State West Africa Province militants and left no U.S. or Nigerian personnel harmed, sharpening a campaign that Washington and Abuja are using to pressure insurgents without sending in ground forces.

U.S. Africa Command said the strikes hit the Metele area of Borno State after intelligence indicated fighters had gathered there. AFRICOM said the operation was coordinated with the Government of Nigeria and was deliberate, not improvised, while Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters said the action targeted Islamic State militants in a joint effort with the Armed Forces of Nigeria. The follow-up assault came only a day after a separate U.S.-Nigerian operation killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, whom both governments described as the second in command of Islamic State globally.

The back-to-back strikes suggest the partnership between Washington and Abuja is widening at a moment when both sides want to show that airpower, intelligence sharing and precision targeting can still produce results in a politically sensitive counterinsurgency. Donald Trump said ISIS’s global operation had been “greatly diminished,” while Bola Ahmed Tinubu said Nigerian forces worked closely with U.S. troops in what he called a “daring joint operation.” Trump, who has criticized Nigeria over security failures at times, also thanked the Nigerian government for its cooperation.

The campaign also highlights how far the Islamic State threat remains from being contained in Nigeria’s northeast. The U.S. Department of State says Boko Haram and ISIS-WA have contributed to the internal displacement of about 2 million people across Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. UNHCR says the northeast hosts 2.2 million internally displaced people and that the wider Lake Chad Basin insurgency has displaced nearly 2.4 million people. The U.S. travel advisory says violence in the region has forced about 2 million Nigerians from their homes.

Nigeria remains part of the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and the State Department says the two countries have maintained a security partnership for more than 50 years. That relationship includes $590 million in active U.S. Foreign Military Sales cases with Nigeria, including the 2017 sale of 12 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft worth $497 million for operations against Boko Haram and ISIS West Africa. In Borno, where a 17-year insurgency led by Boko Haram and ISWAP has killed thousands and displaced about 2 million people, the latest strikes may signal a tougher tempo. They also leave open a larger question: whether this lighter American footprint can shift battlefield momentum, or only keep militant pressure from slipping away.