IGBOZURUOKE MEDIA

The United States has deployed multiple MQ-9 drones alongside 200 troops to Nigeria to provide training and intelligence support to the country’s military in its fight against Islamist militants, according to Reuters.

The report quoted officials of both countries as saying that the troops are not integrated within Nigerian units on the frontline, adding that the drones are also collecting intelligence and not carrying out air strikes.

“We see this as a shared security threat,” a US defence official was quoted as having said.

Last month, TheCable reported that a drone refuelling station was part of the demands made by the US in the security partnership formed with Africa’s largest democracy following President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern.

An official familiar with the discussions told TheCable that Nigeria had agreed to the demand and designated a north-eastern state to host the facility.

After TheCable’s report, the defence headquarters (DHQ) said 100 US military personnel and associated equipment arrived at Bauchi airfield.

Samaila Uba, DHQ director of defence information, said the deployment followed the security agreement between Nigeria and the US.

Uba told Reuters in the Saturday report that the US was operating its assets from the north-east state.

“This support builds on the newly established US-Nigeria intelligence fusion cell, which continues to deliver actionable intelligence to our ‌field commanders,” ⁠he said.

“Our US partners remain in a strictly non-combat role, enabling operations led by Nigerian authorities.”

Uba said the timeline for the US deployment in Nigeria would be determined in agreement by both sides.

MQ-9 drones, which are sometimes known as ‘Reaper drones’ and can loiter at high altitude for more than 27 hours, can be used for both intelligence gathering and air strikes.

However, officials from both sides did not disclose instances where US intelligence had ⁠aided Nigerian troops targeting militants, but Uba said that US forces are helping Nigeria “identify, track and respond to terrorist threats”.

On Christmas Day, the US launched missile strikes on two terrorist enclaves in the Bauni forest in Tangaza LGA, Sokoto state.

It was widely reported that the strike involved more than a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from a navy ship in the Gulf of Guinea.

But officials familiar with the details of the operation told TheCable that the strikes involved drones.

Advanced drones can fire precision shots using mounted weapons like rifles, missiles, or guided munitions, achieving high accuracy in tests and operations.

Late last year, the US began conducting intelligence-gathering flights over swathes of Nigerian territory.

The operated aircraft used for the surveillance typically took off from Ghana and flew over Nigeria before returning to Accra, the Ghanaian capital, which is a hub for the American military’s logistics network in Africa. (TheCable.Ngr)