US Resumes Surveillance Over Sambisa Forest After Sokoto Air Strikes

The United States has resumed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations over Nigeria’s Sambisa forest, days after conducting air strikes against ISIS-linked fighters in Sokoto State.

Flight tracking data shared on Saturday by Brant Philip, a Sahel-focused terrorism tracker, showed a US-linked aircraft operating over Borno State in the country’s north-east. The aircraft, identified as a Gulfstream V, is a long-range business jet commonly modified for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

According to Philip, the renewed operations are focused on the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the ISIS affiliate operating mainly in north-eastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad basin. He said the surveillance flights resumed after a one-day pause that followed Thursday night’s strikes in Sokoto State.

Flight data indicated that the surveillance mission began on November 24, with the aircraft departing from Ghana, a key hub for US military logistics in Africa. Since then, the aircraft has flown over Nigeria almost daily.

The operator of the aircraft was linked to Tenax Aerospace, a US-based special mission aviation company that works closely with the US military. When the operations first began, a former US official said the mission involved tracking an American pilot kidnapped in neighbouring Niger Republic, as well as gathering intelligence on militant groups active in Nigeria.

The renewed surveillance follows high-level engagements between Nigeria and the United States. Days before the intelligence flights began, Nigeria’s national security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, met with US defence secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington amid President Donald Trump’s warnings of possible military intervention.

After the meeting, Hegseth said the US 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 implementation of those threats, with Trump indicating that further strikes would follow.