Nigeria confirmed US military personnel have arrived as militant violence worsens, even as both countries deepen their cooperation.
About 100 personnel arrived with equipment at an airfield in Bauchi, northeast Nigeria, the Defence Headquarters said in a statement Monday, without specifying when they entered the country.
Their deployment to the northeast suggests operations targeting Islamist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, rather than bandit gangs terrorizing communities in the northwest and central regions.
The US personnel won’t take part in combat operations, and their deployment follows “a formal request” from Nigeria’s government for military training, ...