US Resumes Intelligence Flights Over Nigeria After Sokoto Airstrikes

US Resumes Intelligence Flights Over Nigeria After Sokoto Airstrikes
Operations target ISWAP strongholds in Borno and Lake Chad basin
Intelligence missions follow high level US Nigeria security talks

The United States has resumed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations over Nigeria, days after carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State terrorists in Sokoto State, according to flight tracking data and terrorism analysts.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that a Sahel focused terrorism tracker, Brant Philip, shared flight data indicating that a Gulfstream V aircraft was conducting surveillance missions over parts of Borno State. The Gulfstream V is a long range business jet commonly modified for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance duties.

Philip said the renewed operations were focused on the Islamic State West Africa Province, the ISIS affiliated group operating mainly in northeast Nigeria and the Lake Chad basin.

“The United States resumed ISR operations today on ISWAP in the Sambisa forest, Borno State in northeast Nigeria, after a pause of one day following the strikes in Sokoto State,” he wrote on 𝕏.

Flight tracking information showed that the United States began intelligence flights over Nigeria on November 24, after the aircraft departed from Ghana, which serves as a key logistical hub for American military operations in Africa.

Since the start of the mission, the aircraft has reportedly flown over Nigerian airspace almost daily.

The flight data also linked the aircraft’s operator to Tenax Aerospace, a company known for providing special mission aircraft and working closely with the United States military.

Around the time the surveillance operations began, a former US official disclosed that the missions were aimed at tracking an American pilot kidnapped in neighbouring Niger Republic, as well as gathering actionable intelligence on militant groups operating within Nigeria.

The resumption of intelligence flights followed a recent meeting between Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the United States Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, in Washington.

That engagement came after public statements from the Pentagon pledging to work “aggressively” with Nigerian authorities to end what it described as the “persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists.”

US Resumes Intelligence Flights Over Nigeria

Last Thursday night’s airstrike in Sokoto marked the first fulfilment of United States President Donald Trump’s vow to act on the threats, with Trump stating that additional strikes would follow.