US sends drones to Nigeria alongside troops for intelligence and training

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United States deployed drones to Nigeria to provide training and intelligence, a U.S. defense official said Monday, as the West African country’s military fights a multifaceted security crisis.

The MQ-9 drones, also known as Reapers, were deployed alongside 200 U.S. troops who arrived in Nigeria last month. The drones, which can fly at altitudes over 40,000 feet and can loiter for more than 30 hours, have been flown by both the U.S. military and the CIA over the Middle East for years, in Afghanistan, Iraq and now over Yemen during the American bombing campaign there.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is battling a complex security crisis, especially in the north of the country. Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups active in Nigeria are Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, which is affiliated with the Islamic State group and is known as Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP. There is also the IS-linked Lakurawa, as well as other “bandit” groups that specialize in kidnapping for ransom and illegal mining.

A spokesperson for AFRICOM, the U.S. Africa Command, told AP the U.S. troops “are working alongside their Nigerian counterparts to provide intelligence support, advisory assistance, and targeted training in support of the Nigerian Armed Forces.”

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The troops and the MQ-9 drones are based at Bauchi Airfield, a newly built airport in the northeast of the country, the spokesperson said. The number of drones deployed remains unclear.

MQ-9 drones cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes over 40,000 feet and have separate models for land and sea. They can also be used to carry out airstrikes but AFRICOM says they will only be used in Nigeria for intelligence-gathering and training.

The deployment is part of a new security partnership agreed after President Donald Trump alleged that Christians are being targeted in Nigeria’s security crisis. The U.S. launched strikes against IS forces on Dec. 26.

The U.S. had previously operated a major drone base in neighboring Niger, but it was shut down after the ruling military junta expelled U.S. troops from the country.

Earlier this month, three suspected suicide bombings killed at least 23 people and wounded 108 others in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. No group claimed responsibility, but suspicion quickly fell on Boko Haram, which in 2009 launched an insurgency in northeastern Nigeria to enforce its radical interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law.

The crisis has worsened recently to include other militants from the neighboring Sahel region, including the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil last year.

More than 40,000 people in Nigeria have been killed since Boko Haram’s insurgency began, according to data from the United Nations. Analysts say the government is not doing enough to protect its citizens.