The London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported that the deputy commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) told Agence France-Presse that the airstrikes carried out by the United States on Christmas Day in northwestern Nigeria targeted militants linked to a branch of the Islamic State group that is mainly active in neighboring Niger.
Targeting locations in the Sahel region
According to a Middle East report, General John Brennan said in an interview on the sidelines of a US-Nigerian security meeting last week that “the targets were areas used by all terrorist groups in the Sahel region as launching pads”.
He added, “The latest information we received from the Nigerians indicated that she was linked to ISIS in the Sahel”, referring to the Islamic State’s Sahel Province. Analysts are expressing concern about the expansion of ISIS from the Sahel region into West African coastal countries like Nigeria.
US Military Support for Nigeria
He indicated that the United States is increasing military equipment deliveries and intelligence sharing with Nigeria, as Lagos confronts jihadist groups. General John said, “We are trying to expedite the sale of foreign military equipment to enable them to purchase more”.
He added that the United States also provides a comprehensive range of “intelligence sharing” services, including aerial reconnaissance flights, to support Nigerian-led airstrikes.
He confirmed that the United States still cooperates, albeit in a limited way, with the armies of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, which are under the rule of military juntas, despite these countries distancing themselves from their traditional Western partners, adding: “We are still cooperating. In fact, we have shared information with some of them to launch attacks on key terrorist targets, but the situation is very different from what it was two or three years ago”.
