Africa

Military news from Africa.

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Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service operators exit a rigid-hull inflatable boat to conduct a ground raid during exercise Flintlock 26 in Côte d'Ivoire, April 29, 2026. Integrating multidomain capabilities served as a cornerstone of Flintlock 26, leveraging ground, maritime and air capabilities during planning and tactical operations to improve collective readiness. Since 2005, Flintlock has served as U.S. Africa Command’s premier annual special operations exercise. This year’s exercise brought together more than 30 countries across Côte d’Ivoire and Libya to build lethality and readiness, strengthen counterterrorism skills and increase collaboration across borders. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Kristina Randall)

US, Nigerian troops kill ISIS second in command

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on May 16, 2026

Spc. Mariyah Symone Collington was found off the Moroccan coast on May 12.

Army identifies second soldier who went missing in Morocco

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on May 13, 2026

The Army said searchers found had the body of 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., 27, of Richmond, Virginia. Key was a platoon leader in the 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

One of two US soldiers missing in Morocco recovered

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on May 10, 2026

Image: U.S. Soldiers assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment prepare a stinger missile for launch from an AN/TWQ-1 Avenger Air Defense System during African Lion 26 at Cap Draa, Tan-Tan, Morocco, May 1, 2026. The training advanced the unit’s ability to provide low-altitude air defense, disseminate early warning, and engage aerial threats with Stinger missiles, while integrating experimental tactics for unmanned aerial system defense alongside U.S. and multinational partners to advance collective air defense readiness and regional security. AL26 is U.S. Africa Command's largest annual joint exercise, designed to strengthen collective security capabilities of the U.S., African nations and global allies. Led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) from April 20 to May 8, 2026, and hosted in Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, AL26 involves over 5,600 personnel from more than 40 nations, using innovation to drive partner-led regional security. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Hazel Torres)

Search for missing soldiers in Morocco enters second week

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on May 9, 2026

A U.S. Army cannon crewmember assigned to Chaos Battery, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Mobile Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), carries an M249 machine gun during an African Lion 26 live-fire exercise at Cap Draa, Tan-Tan, Morocco, April 21, 2026. The live-fire exercise evaluated the unit’s ability to coordinate, maneuver and deliver precise, synchronized fires in a dynamic environment, ensuring the unit is ready and proficient for any combat mission.

Two US soldiers missing during exercises in Morocco

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on May 3, 2026

A Nigerian soldier from the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) loads his machine gun during training at the MNJTF military base, Sector 3 Headquarters, in Monguno, Borno state, Nigeria, on July 5, 2025. Twelve checkpoints manned by the Nigerian army control the various entrances to Monguno. Monguno's huge fortifications have kept the garrison town mostly secure even as northeastern Nigeria has seen a recent surge in attacks on military bases by jihadists fighting a grinding 16 year war. Fighting in Borno may have eased since the conflict's highpoint in 2015 as jihadists have been forced back. But militants from Islamic State West Africa Province or rival Boko Haram have attacked or temporarily overrun a dozen military bases since the start of the year. (Photo by Joris Bolomey / AFP) (Photo by JORIS BOLOMEY/AFP via Getty Images)

US troops deploy to Nigeria to train its military

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Feb 16, 2026

Image: U.S. Air Force loadmasters with the 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron load cargo onto a C-130J Super Hercules at Manda Bay, Kenya, May 2, 2025. As U.S. Air Forces Africa’s sole airlift unit, the 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron provides C-130 tactical airlift support to multiple users in East Africa, including aeromedical evacuation, logistical movements, alert aircrews, and aircraft for crisis response and humanitarian operations. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Kevin Ray J. Salvador)

US starts $70 million upgrade to Kenyan airfield used in Somalia operations

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Feb 1, 2026

DAABDAMALE, PUNTLAND, SOMALIA - JANUARY 25: Soldiers with the Puntland Defense Forces walk back from a cave where Islamic State fighters lived until recently being flushed out on the frontline near Daabdamale, Puntland, Somalia on January 25, 2025. Islamic State in Somalia recruits foreign fighters and brings them into Somalia to try to gain ground in what is becoming a key nerve center for the Islamic State. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

US targets ISIS in Somalia with multiple airstrikes over four days

By Nicholas Slayton

Updated on Dec 28, 2025

A missile launches in a plume of fire from a U.S. warship as part of strikes against ISIS in Nigeria on Dec. 25, 2025.

US targets ISIS with multiple strikes in Nigeria

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Dec 26, 2025

FILE: F-16 Fighting Falcons based in the Central Command area of operations conduct armed aerial patrols over Somalia on Jan. 2, 2021. (Staff Sgt. Trevor T. McBride/U.S. Air Force)

US forces bomb al-Shabab in Somalia over eight days

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Aug 17, 2025

DAABDAMALE, PUNTLAND, SOMALIA - JANUARY 25: Soldiers with the Puntland Defense Forces walk back from a cave where Islamic State fighters lived until recently being flushed out on the frontline near Daabdamale, Puntland, Somalia on January 25, 2025. Islamic State in Somalia recruits foreign fighters and brings them into Somalia to try to gain ground in what is becoming a key nerve center for the Islamic State. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

US forces capture ISIS finance chief in Somalia

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jul 26, 2025

A F/A-18F flies above a desert environment.

US airstrikes surge in Somalia, surpassing 2024 numbers

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on May 31, 2025

A fighter jet takes off down the runway of an aircraft carrier.

US carries out multiple airstrikes on ISIS in Somalia

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Feb 2, 2025

Special operations forces assigned to the Ghana Special Boat Squadron prepare to board the Italian Navy Comandante Bettica PGH-492 for a Visit, Board, Search and Seizure exercise off the coast of Takoradi, Ghana, May 16, 2024. The VBSS brought together participants from both Exercise Flintlock and Obangame Express; these exercises are multinational military operations aimed to enhance security and counterterrorism capabilities in West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist John Pearl)

US looks to West Africa as new hub for counter-terrorism mission after leaving Niger, Chad

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Sep 12, 2024

Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman of U.S. Africa Command visits troops at Air Base 101 in Niamey, Niger on May 30, 2024. (photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher Dyer/U.S. Air Force)

US troops to leave Niger bases this weekend and in August

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jul 6, 2024

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Luis Fernando Tello and Airman 1st Class Kameron Lee, 768 Expeditionary Air Base Squadron Security Forces Flight Response Force Airmen, at Air Base 101, Niamey, Niger, March 1, 2022. The 768th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron, plays a key role in counter-violent extremism operations in the Sahel by providing infrastructure, sustainment, operational mission generation, and base defense. Security Forces Airmen provide defense-in-depth while strengthening relationships with Nigerien security forces, primarily the Forces Armées Nigériennes (FAN), in support of more stable, prosperous Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Nicholas Byers)

After Niger exit, list of possible US allies includes Libya, general says

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jun 24, 2024