BREAKING: US Resumes Surveillance Operations Over Sambisa Forest After Airstrike in Sokoto

• The United States has resumed intelligence and surveillance operations over Nigeria, focusing on ISWAP strongholds in the North-East, days after airstrikes targeted ISIS-linked terrorists in Sokoto State.

This was revealed through flight tracking data shared by Brant Philip, a Sahel-focused terrorism tracker, who confirmed that a US-operated aircraft was spotted conducting surveillance missions over Borno State. According to the data, the aircraft involved is a Gulfstream V— a long-range business jet commonly modified for intelligence and reconnaissance operations.

BREAKING: US resumes surveillance flights over Sambisa forest after airstrike in Sokoto

Philip disclosed that Saturday’s surveillance activities were focused on the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the ISIS affiliate operating mainly in Nigeria’s North-East and the Lake Chad Basin.

“The United States resumed ISR operations today on ISWAP in the Sambisa Forest, Borno State, after a pause of one day following the strikes in Sokoto State,” Philip posted on X.

Flight tracking records further showed that the US restarted intelligence operations over Nigeria on November 24, with the aircraft taking off from Ghana, which serves as a key logistics hub for American military operations in Africa. Since then, the aircraft has reportedly flown over Nigerian territory almost daily.

The surveillance aircraft has been linked to Tenax Aerospace, a special mission aviation company known to work closely with the US military on intelligence and reconnaissance missions.

At the time the operations began, a former US official revealed that the missions were aimed at tracking an American pilot kidnapped in neighbouring Niger Republic, as well as gathering intelligence on militant groups operating within Nigeria.

The renewed surveillance followed a high-level meeting in Washington between Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, amid threats by President Donald Trump of possible military intervention.

After the meeting, Hegseth stated that the US would work “aggressively” with Nigeria to end what he described as the persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists. The airstrikes carried out on Thursday night marked the first major fulfilment of that threat, with Trump indicating that more strikes could follow.

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Prior to the Christmas Day operation, the United States had conducted similar surveillance and strike missions across Sokoto, Yobe, and parts of the Lake Chad region.

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, later confirmed in an interview with the BBC that the airstrikes were a joint Nigeria–US operation and hinted that further action could still be taken.

The renewed surveillance over Borno State suggests the possibility of fresh airstrikes, this time concentrated in the North-East, as both countries intensify efforts against ISWAP and other militant groups operating in the region.