The United States has restarted intelligence and surveillance flights over Nigeria, days after launching airstrikes against ISIS-linked militants in Sokoto State.
A Sahel-based terrorism analyst, Brant Philip, disclosed that flight tracking records showed a US-linked aircraft operating over parts of Borno State on Saturday. The aircraft, identified as a Gulfstream V, is a long-range jet frequently adapted for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
According to Philip, the renewed operations are focused on the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the ISIS faction active mainly in Nigeria’s North-East and the Lake Chad region.
“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 data indicates that the surveillance missions began on November 24, shortly after the aircraft departed from Ghana, which serves as a major logistics base for US military activities in Africa. Since then, the jet has reportedly flown over Nigerian airspace almost every day.
Further tracking information connects the aircraft’s operator to Tenax Aerospace, a company that provides specialised mission aircraft and works closely with the US military.
When the surveillance flights first commenced, a former US official explained that the missions were aimed at monitoring militant groups in Nigeria and assisting efforts to locate an American pilot kidnapped in neighbouring Niger Republic.
The resumption of intelligence flights follows a recent meeting in Washington between Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. The talks reportedly addressed President Donald Trump’s warnings about possible America military action.
After the meeting, Hegseth said the Pentagon would work “aggressively” with Nigeria to stop what he described as the “persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists”.
The airstrikes carried out on Thursday night marked the first visible step in that direction, with Trump warning that additional strikes could still come.
