Intelligence indicated the two Islamic State-linked camps in the Bauni forest of Sokoto State were being used by foreign ISIS elements working with local affiliates to plan large-scale attacks inside Nigeria.

The US has intensified intelligence-gathering flights over Nigeria since late November, signaling deepening security cooperation amid Trump’s threats of possible military intervention and rising militant violence.

An attack by ISIS forces on U.S. servicemembers earlier this month prompted U.S. airstrikes and an entry ban on Syrian nationals, despite Trump’s embrace of Syria President Ahmad al-Sharaa