In a clear signal of an ongoing military operation, the United States has resumed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) flights over Nigeria’s insurgent-held Sambisa Forest, just days after conducting air strikes in Sokoto state.
Flight tracking data analyzed by terrorism monitor Brant Philip showed a US-modified Gulfstream V aircraft operating over Borno state on Saturday. The mission marks a return to a near-daily pattern of surveillance that began in late November, briefly paused following Thursday’s kinetic strikes on ISIS targets in Nigeria’s northwest.
“The United States resumed ISR operations today on ISWAP in the Sambisa forestโฆ after a pause of one day following the strikes in Sokoto state,” Philip stated on X (formerly Twitter).
The aircraft is linked to Tenax Aerospace, a US-based contractor that provides special mission aircraft services, often in coordination with the American military. The flights originate from a US logistics hub in Ghana.
The resumed surveillance tightens the link between recent US threats and tangible military action in Nigeria. The flights first commenced shortly after Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, met with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington. That meeting addressed President Donald Trump’s threats of military intervention to counter what he termed the “persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists.”
Following the Sokoto operation, Trump vowed that “more strikes would follow.” The quick return of surveillance assets to the northeastโthe primary operational zone of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)โsuggests the US is actively gathering targeting intelligence for potential future actions.
When the surveillance flights began in November, a former US official indicated they served a dual purpose: tracking an American pilot kidnapped in neighboring Niger and gathering intelligence on militant groups within Nigeria, including ISWAP and Boko Haram factions.
The focus on Sambisa, a longtime forest fortress for insurgents, underscores the continued US priority on the Islamist militant threat in the Lake Chad region, even as its strikes demonstrate a willingness to hit targets in new areas like Sokoto.
The Nigerian government has not issued a new statement on the latest surveillance activity. However, the pattern confirms a significant and escalating US military intelligence footprint in the country’s counter-terrorism landscape.
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