DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United States is sending troops to Nigeria to help train the West African nation’s military in fighting extremism, Nigerian authorities said Wednesday, as a multifaceted security crisis spreads in the north of the country.
The American personnel won’t engage in combat or have a direct operational role, and Nigerian forces will have complete command authority, Maj. Gen. Samaila Uba, spokesman for Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters, said in a statement.
“At the invitation of the Government of Nigeria and in continuation of our longstanding security cooperation and military-to-military partnership with the United States, Nigeria will host a contingent of United States technical and training personnel,” Uba said.
Around 200 U.S. troops were expected to arrive in Nigeria, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity, because the person wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter. The deployment was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Nigeria has been a focus of Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump said the country wasn’t protecting Christians from an alleged genocide. The Nigerian government rejected the accusation, and analysts say it simplifies a very complicated situation in which people are often targeted regardless of their faith.
In December, U.S. forces launched airstrikes on Islamic State group-affiliated militants in northwestern Nigeria. Last month, the head of U.S. Africa Command confirmed a small team of U.S. military officers are in Nigeria, focused on intelligence support.
Nigeria is facing a protracted fight with dozens of local armed groups increasingly battling for turf, including Islamic sects like the homegrown Boko Haram and its breakaway faction Islamic State West Africa Province. There is also the IS-linked Lakurawa, as well as other “bandit” groups that specialize in kidnapping for ransom and illegal mining.
Recently, the crisis has worsened to include other militants from the neighboring Sahel region, including the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil last year. Several thousand people have been killed in Nigeria’s protracted conflict, according to data from the United Nations. Analysts say not enough is being done by the government to protect its citizens.
While Christians have been among those targeted, analysts and residents say the majority of victims of the armed groups are Muslims in Nigeria’s Muslim-dominated north, where most attacks occur.