The United States has resumed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) flights over Nigeria’s North-East, focusing on militant/ Bandits activities in the Sambisa Forest, following Thursday night’s strikes against ISIS fighters in Sokoto State.
A Sahel-based terrorism tracker, Brant Philip, revealed the development on Saturday, citing flight-tracking data that showed a US aircraft operating over Borno State.
The data identified the aircraft as a Gulfstream V, a long-range jet commonly adapted for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
“The United States resumed ISR operations today against ISWAP in the Sambisa Forest, Borno State, after a one-day pause following the strikes in Sokoto State,” Philip wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
He explained that the latest operation targeted the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the ISIS affiliate active mainly in Nigeria’s North-East and the Lake Chad Basin.
Open-source flight-tracking records reviewed by several analysts indicate that the US began its current ISR missions in Nigeria on November 24, with flights originating from Ghana, which serves as a key logistics base for the American military in West Africa.
The aircraft, reportedly operated by Tenax Aerospace—a US special-mission aviation firm known to work closely with the American military—has flown over Nigeria almost daily since the mission began.
Sources familiar with the operation said the surveillance flights have multiple objectives, including efforts to locate an American pilot reportedly kidnapped in neighbouring Niger Republic, as well as gathering intelligence on militant groups operating in Nigeria.
The renewed US activity comes weeks after Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, met with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington, amid rising tensions following President Donald Trump’s threats of possible military action in Nigeria.
After the meeting, Hegseth said the US Department of Defence would work “aggressively” with Nigeria to end what he described as the “persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists.”
Thursday night’s airstrikes in North-West Nigeria, reportedly aimed at ISIS-linked militants, were described by Trump as the “first fulfilment” of that warning.