United States restarts ISR operations in northeast Nigeria, targeting ISWAP terrorists after recent air strikes in Sokoto State, officials confirm.
United States has resumed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations over northeast Nigeria, focusing on terrorists in the Sambisa Forest, following air strikes in Sokoto State, on the night of Thursday December 25, 2025.
The development was disclosed Saturday December 27, 2025, by Brant Philip, a Sahel-focused terrorism analyst, who shared flight-tracking data showing a U.S. Gulfstream V aircraft operating over Borno State. The long-range business jet is often modified for ISR missions, providing real-time intelligence on militant activity.
Philip explained that Saturday’s operation specifically targeted the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the ISIS affiliate active in Nigeria’s northeast and the Lake Chad basin. The surveillance flights had paused for a day after the Sokoto strikes, which U.S. President Donald Trump described as the “first fulfillment” of his promise to take decisive action against jihadist threats in Nigeria.
Flight-tracking and open-source analysis indicate that U.S. ISR missions over Nigeria began on November 24, with aircraft departing from Ghana, a regional hub supporting American military operations in West Africa. The same Gulfstream, operated by Tenax Aerospace, a U.S. special mission contractor, has reportedly flown almost daily over Nigeria since the start of the mission.
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Sources familiar with the operations said the surveillance serves multiple purposes, including tracking an American pilot kidnapped in neighboring Niger and monitoring ISWAP and other extremist groups in the region.
The renewed U.S. engagement follows high-level diplomacy. Weeks ago, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, met U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington amid rising tensions over potential military intervention. Hegseth pledged that the Department of Defense would work “aggressively” with Nigeria to counter the “persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists.”
Thursday night’s air strikes in northwest Nigeria reportedly targeted ISIS-linked terrorists and signaled a tangible escalation in U.S. military support for Nigeria. President Trump warned that “more strikes would follow,” emphasizing a sustained commitment to regional counterterrorism efforts.
Nigeria faces an ongoing threat from ISWAP, which has carried out attacks on civilians, military personnel, and infrastructure across the northeast. Analysts say the combination of air strikes and ISR operations demonstrates a new phase in U.S.-Nigeria cooperation aimed at curbing extremist activity and stabilizing the region.
As operations continue, U.S. and Nigerian authorities are expected to maintain close coordination, balancing intelligence gathering with tactical strikes to reduce terrorists’ threats while protecting civilians in affected areas.
