The US military is increasing material deliveries and intelligence sharing with Nigeria, a top general told AFP, as part of a broader American push to work with African militaries to go after Islamic State linked militants. The Pentagon has also kept open lines of communication with militaries in the junta-led Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.

The increased cooperation with Abuja follows Washington’s diplomatic pressure on Nigeria over jihadist violence in the country, but also as the US military is becoming “more aggressive” in pursuing Islamic State linked targets on the continent, Lieutenant General John Brennan told AFP.

The increased cooperation with Abuja follows Washington’s diplomatic pressure on Nigeria over jihadist violence in the country, but also as the US military is becoming “more aggressive” in pursuing IS-linked targets on the continent.

Under the Trump administration, “we’ve gotten a lot more aggressive and (are) working with partners to target, kinetically, the threats, mainly ISIS,” Brennan said in an interview on the sidelines of a US-Nigeria security meeting in the Nigerian capital last week. “From Somalia to Nigeria, the problem set is connected.

So we’re trying to take it apart and then provide partners with the information they need,” he added. “It’s been about more enabling partners and then providing them equipment and capabilities with less restrictions so that they can be more successful.”

Last week’s inaugural USNigeria Joint Working Group meeting came roughly a month after the US announced surprise Christmas Day strikes on IS-linked targets in northwest Nigeria.

Though both militaries seem keen on increased cooperation after the joint strikes, hanging over it all is diplomatic pressure by Washington over what Trump claims is the mass killing of Christians in Nigeria. Abuja and independent analysts reject that framing of Nigeria’s myriad, overlapping conflicts, which has long been used by the US religious right. Brennan told AFP that US intelligence would not be limited to protecting Christians.

He also said that following the US strikes in northwestern Sokoto state, American support going forward would focus on intelligence sharing to aid Nigerian air strikes there, as well as the northeast, where a jihadist insurgency by Boko Haram and rival breakaway ISWAP has raged since 2009.

Brennan also said the US is not seeking to replace its bases in Niger after its troops were pushed out by the ruling junta. “We’re not in the market to create a drone base anywhere,” he said, referencing the shuttered US drone operations in Agadez.