The United States has resumed intelligence and surveillance operations over parts of Nigeria, barely 48 hours after carrying out airstrikes on suspected Islamic State terrorists in Sokoto State.
Flight tracking data indicated that an American aircraft was sighted over Borno State on Saturday as part of renewed monitoring of insurgent activity in the North-East.
A Sahel-focused terrorism analyst, Brant Philip, disclosed the development on Saturday, noting that the operation was aimed at tracking activities of the Islamic State West Africa Province in the region.
The aircraft involved in the operation was identified as a Gulfstream V jet, a long-range aircraft commonly adapted for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Philip said Saturday’s intelligence operations focused on the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the ISIS affiliate in Nigeria, which operates primarily in the north-east and Lake Chad basin.
“The United States resumed ISR operations today on ISWAP in the Sambisa forest, Borno state in northeast Nigeria, after a pause of one day following the strikes in Sokoto state,” he tweeted on X.
Data from flight tracking platforms showed that the surveillance mission began on November 24 after the aircraft departed from Ghana, which serves as a logistics hub for the US military in Africa.
The jet has reportedly flown over Nigerian airspace almost daily since the commencement of the operation.
Further checks linked the aircraft’s operator to Tenax Aerospace, a special mission aviation company known to work with the US military.
A former US official was also quoted as saying that the mission included efforts to track an American pilot kidnapped in neighbouring Niger Republic, as well as to gather intelligence on armed groups operating within Nigeria.
The renewed surveillance followed a meeting between Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, in Washington, where discussions reportedly focused on security cooperation and Washington’s concerns over attacks by jihadist groups.
After the meeting, Hegseth said his department would work “aggressively” with Nigeria to end the alleged “persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists”.
Thursday’s airstrikes in Sokoto State were described as the first visible outcome of the US government’s position, with President Donald Trump reportedly indicating that further strikes could follow.