The United States military has increased deliveries of military equipment and expanded intelligence sharing with Nigeria as part of what it describes as a more “aggressive” continental campaign against Islamic State (IS)-linked militant groups, a senior American commander has said.

The Deputy Commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), Lt. Gen. John Brennan, disclosed this in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), noting that Washington is intensifying cooperation with African militaries to target jihadist groups across the continent.

Lt. Gen. Brennan said the Pentagon has also maintained open lines of communication with the militaries of junta-led Sahelian states, including Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, despite strained diplomatic relations following recent coups in the region.

The deepening cooperation with Nigeria follows sustained diplomatic pressure from Washington over persistent jihadist violence in the country, even as the US military adopts a more assertive posture in pursuing IS-linked targets in Africa.

Under the administration of President Donald Trump, Brennan said, the US military has shifted towards more direct engagement. “We’ve gotten a lot more aggressive and [are] working with partners to target, kinetically, the threats, mainly ISIS,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of a US–Nigeria security meeting held in Abuja last week.

“From Somalia to Nigeria, the problem set is connected. So we’re trying to take it apart and then provide partners with the information they need,” he added.

According to Brennan, the strategy prioritises empowering local forces. “It’s been about more enabling partners and then providing them with equipment and capabilities with fewer restrictions so that they can be more successful,” he said.

Last week’s inaugural US–Nigeria Joint Working Group meeting took place roughly one month after the United States announced surprise Christmas Day air strikes on IS-linked targets in north-western Nigeria.

Although both militaries appear keen to expand cooperation following the joint strikes, the engagement is overshadowed by diplomatic pressure from Washington over claims by President Trump that Christians are being subjected to mass killings in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Government and independent analysts have rejected that framing, arguing that it oversimplifies Nigeria’s complex and overlapping security crises, a narrative long promoted by elements of the US religious right.

The sensitive politics surrounding religion were evident during the Abuja meeting, where Ms. Allison Hooker, the third most senior official at the US State Department, urged the Nigerian Government “to protect Christians” in a speech that made no reference to Muslim victims of armed groups.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is roughly evenly divided between a predominantly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south. While millions of citizens coexist peacefully, religious and ethnic identity remains a delicate issue in a nation with a long history of sectarian violence.

Brennan told AFP that US intelligence support would not be limited to protecting Christian communities.

He added that following the US strikes in north-western Sokoto State, American assistance would focus on intelligence sharing to support Nigerian air operations in that area, as well as in the north-east, where a jihadist insurgency led by Boko Haram and its IS-aligned splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), has persisted since 2009.

ISWAP, Brennan said, is “our most concerning group”.

Security analysts have tracked increased US intelligence flights over Nigeria in recent months, although some have questioned whether air power alone can dislodge armed groups that thrive amid entrenched poverty and weak state presence in rural areas.

Future US–Nigeria cooperation, Brennan said, would encompass “the whole gamut of intel sharing, sharing tactics, techniques and procedures, as well as enabling them to procure more equipment”.

The initial air strikes, he explained, targeted militants affiliated with the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), which is typically active in neighbouring Niger.

Analysts have expressed concern about the group’s expansion from the Sahel into coastal West African states, including Nigeria.

However, the impact of the strikes remains unclear, with local and international journalists unable to independently verify militant casualties.

Asked about their effectiveness, Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Mr. Mohammed Idris, said last week that the operation was “still a work in progress”.

Beyond Nigeria, Brennan said the United States continues to collaborate with the militaries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, despite the curtailment of formal security cooperation following a wave of coups between 2020 and 2023.

“We have actually shared information with some of them to attack key terrorist targets,” he said. “We still talk to our military partners across the Sahelian states, even though it’s not official.”

Brennan also said Washington does not intend to replace its former bases in Niger after US forces were expelled by the ruling junta.

“We’re not in the market to create a drone base anywhere,” he said, referring to the closure of US drone operations in Agadez.

“We are much more focused on getting capability to the right place at the right time and then leaving. We don’t seek long-term basing in any of the West African countries.”