The United States is sending about 200 troops to Nigeria to help train the country's military in its fight against Islamist terrorists, weeks after President Donald Trump accused the West African nation of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks, a U.S. military official said Tuesday.
The additional troops will supplement a small U.S. military presence already in Nigeria and are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
They will be deployed around the country to provide training and technical guidance, including helping Nigerian forces coordinate simultaneous air and infantry operations, U.S. and Nigerian officials told The Wall Street Journal.
"The terrorist activity in West Africa — and Nigeria specifically — is something we're incredibly concerned with," a spokesperson for U.S. Africa Command said.
"We want to partner with capable and willing partners that are able to address these shared security concerns."
Nigerian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Samaila Uba said the government requested the additional assistance and stressed that American forces will not be fighting alongside Nigerian troops.
"The U.S. troops aren't going to be involved in direct combat or operations," Uba said.
U.S. officials confirmed that the troops will not take part in combat.
The expanded U.S. role follows a sharp escalation in rhetoric from Trump, who late last year said Christians faced "genocide" in Nigeria and threatened to deploy U.S. forces "guns-a-blazing" against militants.
He also warned he would cut U.S. aid to Nigeria "if it continues to allow the killing of Christians."
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rejected those claims.
U.S. officials say Nigeria has since shown greater willingness to intensify counterterrorism cooperation.
"Nigeria already identifies and knows all these terrorists we have," Uba said.
With Nigerian support, a U.S. warship launched more than a dozen missiles on Christmas Day at two alleged Islamic State group camps in Nigeria.
Uba declined to give casualty figures, saying only, "I can confirm the intent was achieved."
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has a population of about 237 million, based on recent U.N.-aligned estimates, and has battled Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province for more than a decade.
The insurgencies began in the northeast, but violence linked to extremist groups and armed criminal networks has spread across wide swaths of the country, straining Nigeria's security forces and deepening a humanitarian crisis.
Both Muslims and Christians have been victims of attacks.
The violence drew global attention after Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014, an abduction that became a symbol of the terrorists' brutality and Nigeria's difficulty in securing rural communities.
U.S. Africa Command has said it is working with regional partners to counter violent extremist organizations, and recent reporting has described a stepped-up U.S. advisory posture focused on planning support and coordination with Nigerian counterparts.
Nigerian officials, meanwhile, have emphasized that any U.S. support is meant to strengthen Nigerian capabilities rather than introduce a new direct combat role for American forces.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.