The United States has resumed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations over Nigeria’s Sambisa Forest, days after President Donald Trump warned that further military action would follow recent air strikes.
The renewed surveillance followed late Thursday’s US strikes targeting ISIS-linked militants in Sokoto State.
Flight tracking data shared on Saturday by Brant Philip, a Sahel-focused terrorism analyst, showed a US aircraft conducting operations over Borno State, where Sambisa Forest is located.
The aircraft, identified as a Gulfstream V, is a long-range jet commonly modified for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
According to Philip, the operation focused on the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the ISIS affiliate operating mainly in Nigeria’s North-East 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,” Philip wrote on X.
Further tracking data showed that US surveillance flights over Nigeria began on November 24 after the aircraft departed from Ghana, a known hub for American military logistics operations in Africa. Since then, the aircraft has reportedly flown over Nigeria almost daily.
The aircraft was linked to Tenax Aerospace, a special-mission aviation company known to work closely with the US military.
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A former US official had earlier disclosed that the surveillance missions include efforts to track an American pilot kidnapped in neighbouring Niger Republic, as well as gathering intelligence on militant groups operating within Nigeria.
The surveillance operations resumed shortly after Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, met with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington, following President Trump’s warning of possible military intervention.
After the meeting, Hegseth said the US Department of Defense would work “aggressively” with Nigeria to end what he described as the “persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists.”
Thursday night’s air strikes marked the first apparent implementation of Trump’s warning, with the US president stating that “more” military actions would follow.