President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance electronically signed the accord Sunday, ahead of a formal ceremony scheduled for Friday in Switzerland. Vance is expected to lead the American delegation alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

The agreement leaves the most difficult points of contention between Washington and Tehran – such as the fate of Iran’s nuclear program – to the next phase of negotiations.

Trump, speaking at the Group of Seven summit in France on Wednesday, warned that any Iranian violation of the terms would spark a renewed U.S. military campaign.

“If they don’t behave, we’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head,” the commander-in-chief told reporters.

The full text of the “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran” is as follows:

Paragraph 1

The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war, by signing this MOU, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operations against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and other provisions of this paragraph.

Paragraph 2

The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

Paragraph 3

The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran commit to negotiating and achieving the final deal in maximum 60 days, extendable with mutual consent.

Paragraph 4

Immediately upon the signing of this MOU, the United States of America will begin the removal of its naval blockade, and any disturbances or impediments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and will fully end the naval blockade within 30 days. During this period, the traffic of vessels will be in proportion to the numbers of prewar traffic being restored by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final deal.

Paragraph 5

Upon the signing of this MOU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements, using its best efforts, for the safe passage of commercial vessels, with no charge for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa. The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start, and considering the needs for removing the technical and military obstacles, and demining by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will be instated within 30 days. The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf littoral states in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.

Paragraph 6

The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The mechanism for the implementation of this plan will be finalized as part of a final deal within 60 days. All required licenses, waivers, and permissions needed for the relevant financial transactions will be granted by the United States of America.

Paragraph 7

The United States of America undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions. IAEA Board of Governors resolutions, and all unilateral US sanctions, primary and secondary, in an agreed upon schedule as part of the final deal. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America acknowledge the critical importance of the sanctions termination issue above mentioned, and expressed their intentions to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them.

Paragraph 8

The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpile enriched material pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon in accordance with the schedule mentioned in paragraph seven with the minimum methodology to be down-blending on site under the supervision of the IAEA. The two parties also agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear needs, based on a satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal. The final deal will confirm the provisions of this paragraph. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran acknowledge the critical importance of the nuclear issues above mentioned, and express their intention to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them.

Paragraph 9

Pending the final deal, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree to maintain the status quo. The Islamic Republic of Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program, and the United States of America will not impose any new sanctions and will not deploy additional forces in the region.

Paragraph 10

The United States of America undertakes that immediately upon the signing of this MOU and until the termination of sanctions, U.S. Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products, and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc.

Paragraph 11

The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the implementation of this MOU. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will mutually agree on the procedures related to the release of these funds during negotiations. Such funds, whether obtaining the original account or transfer, shall be made fully usable for payment to any ultimate beneficiary designated by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America undertakes to issue all necessary licenses and authorizations accordingly.

Paragraph 12

The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree that an executive mechanism will be established to monitor the successful implementation of this MOU and the future compliance of the final deal.

Paragraph 13

After signing this MOU, and subject to the beginning of the implementation of paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this MOU, and the continuing implementation of these measures, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will start negotiations regarding the final deal exclusively on the other paragraphs.

Paragraph 14

The final deal will be endorsed by a binding UNSC resolution.

In a post on Truth Social, the president wrote the United States would be hitting Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT,” adding that “at some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets.”

Kharg Island, located in the Persian Gulf, typically handles roughly 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports. It has been central to the economic survival of the Islamic Republic for decades. A 1984 declassified CIA document called its facilities “the most vital in Iran’s oil system, and their continued operation is essential to Iran’s economic well-being.”

But Trump’s saber-rattling was quickly tempered by a note of caution. Speaking to the hosts of “Fox & Friends” shortly after his social media post, the president questioned whether America “has the stomach” for a larger military operation to take the island.

“I’m not sure the country has the appetite for it, as good as it is,” Trump said. “I think they’d like to see us come home.”

The White House told Military Times that all military options remain available to the president, including scenarios involving a significant number of ground forces occupying Kharg Island. On Thursday, however, Trump appeared to rule out that possibility.

“I don’t want to have boots on the ground. But if I wanted to, we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the whole place,” the commander in chief said, punctuating his remarks on Iran with “They’re finished.”

Trump’s political coalition has been riven with tensions since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Foreign policy hawks who insist Iran must be curbed are on one side, and isolationist-leaning, “America-First” voices are on the other. The latter group is vigorously opposed to the use of ground troops, fearing that such a deployment would pave the way for the U.S. getting sucked into a long and costly conflict, similar to those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The proposal to seize the island and establish control over Iran’s oil sector also diverges from the four objectives that bolstered Operation Epic Fury in the first place. The Trump administration’s stated war aims were to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, inflict serious damage on its Navy and Air Force, prevent nuclear development and curtail its support for proxy groups in the region, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

This all comes as hostilities between American and Iranian forces in the Middle East are on the rise, despite a ceasefire signed in April.

U.S. Central Command said that Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy assets conducted strikes Wednesday evening against Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems and air defense sites.

Trump, during his interview with Fox News, claimed the U.S. “dropped $250 million worth of bombs on them last night.”

Tehran — which asserts it has launched a series of retaliatory strikes against American bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait — cast the nearly two-month ceasefire as “practically meaningless.”

“The illegal and criminal attacks perpetrated by the United States in recent hours not only constitute a flagrant violation… but also render the ceasefire practically meaningless,” Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “Responsibility for the extremely serious consequences of the criminal act lies with the leaders of the United States.”

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, the president declared, “We hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them hard again today.”

Trump initially claimed in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that Iran had shot down the aircraft, before revising his account a day later to say it was struck by an Iranian ordnance that failed to detonate on impact.

“That bomb was lodged in the helicopter, it didn’t explode. It was on fire but it didn’t explode,” Trump explained. “Those two guys, they knew how to fly, but they got very lucky.”

He then quipped: “You won’t believe the rescue, how cool it was.”

The crew members were retrieved by a remotely piloted Navy surface drone, in what Trump and military officials described as the first U.S. operation of its kind.

Still, the episode demonstrated one asymmetrical element of the conflict. U.S. officials said a low-cost Iranian Shahed-136 drone — estimated to cost roughly $20,000 — engaged the American attack helicopter valued at between $35 million and $40 million.

Describing the subsequent rescue, Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for Central Command, told Military Times that the unmanned surface vessel retrieved the downed aviators and ferried them to a rendezvous point at sea, where they were then hoisted aboard a helicopter for extraction.

“The surface drone that assisted in [Monday’s] rescue of the Apache crew off the coast of Oman was a U.S. Navy Corsair unmanned surface vessel operated by U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59,” he said. “The task force began fielding these drones in theater in late March.”

The 24-foot Corsair — built by Texas-based Saronic Technologies — can carry payloads of up to 1,000 pounds over a 1,000-nautical-mile range and reach speeds of up to 35 knots, according to the company’s website.

Soon after the U.S. began carrying out retaliatory strikes on Tuesday night, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a social media post, wrote that “our powerful armed forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered.” The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps later announced, through a statement carried by Iranian state TV, that it had conducted 21 attacks on U.S. bases across the region, including in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

But despite the fresh wave of attacks, Trump on Wednesday insisted that a peace agreement can be reached.

“We’ll see what happens with the deal. We were really close to a deal but they keep tapping us along, they keep playing us for suckers,” Trump said. “All they have to do is they have to start signing a paper, it’s fully negotiated.”

Given that negotiations are highly sensitive and secret, it’s unclear how close — or distant — the sides are from an agreement.

A delegation of Qatari officials arrived in Iran on Wednesday in an effort to broker a deal between Washington and Tehran, a source familiar with the discussions told Military Times, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matters publicly.

Caine held bilateral discussions with senior leaders of the interim government and with U.S. embassy personnel. During those meetings, he underscored the importance of Venezuelan stability, broader security across the Western Hemisphere and the military’s commitment to implementing Trump’s “three-phase plan,” Joe Holstead, a spokesman for Caine, said in a statement.

The plan focuses on avoiding chaos, bolstering an economic recovery and — eventually — facilitating a transition to democracy.

A key pillar of the effort has been restoring Venezuela’s oil industry, which Trump previously characterized as a “total bust.”

All of that changed with Operation Absolute Resolve. The sprawling military raid — which involved more than 150 aircraft — culminated in Delta Force commandos descending on a heavily fortified compound and capturing Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The pair were later flown to New York, where they each face criminal charges.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, continues to maintain a robust presence in the region, with the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group sailing into the Caribbean in May.

Since September, the Pentagon has carried out at least 62 strikes in the waters off South America, killing nearly 200 people whom the Trump administration says were involved in drug trafficking, according to data compiled by Military Times. Many legal experts dispute the legality of those operations.

The “Global Terrorism Threat Assessment 2026″ identifies terrorism on the continent as “the greatest uncertainty,” citing the rising capabilities of al-Qaida and Islamic State affiliates.

“Unlike the Middle East’s terrorist organizations, most African terrorist groups are unquestionably ascendant,” the authors wrote, pointing to larger fighting forces, greater financial resources, and the groups’ ability to move through wide swaths of territory.

Many are also capitalizing on the proliferation of unmanned aerial systems and artificial intelligence to enhance their deadly effectiveness.

“These new capabilities unlock new forms of operation, facilitation, and inspiration for international terrorists, requiring novel responses from states, which may also take advantage of emerging technologies,” the report said. “Given the increasing pace of technological change, the future of how terrorists and counterterrorists will act against each other is increasingly unclear.”

The report classifies Al Shabaab, a Somalia-based al-Qaida-affiliated group, as Africa’s most capable – and likely largest – terrorist organization, with the clearest demonstrated intent to attack American interests. But the authors stop short of declaring that this group represents an imminent threat to the U.S. homeland.

“Al Shabaab seems focused on its regional objectives, meaning the probability that an African terrorist group attempts a mass-casualty attack against the U.S. homeland remains low,” the authors wrote.

Meanwhile, ACLED, a nonprofit organization that collects conflict data, recorded that nearly 80% of all ISIS activity during the first 11 months of 2025 occurred in Africa, marking a 50% increase from the previous year.

At the heart of that surge is the Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP, a powerful insurgent network in the Sahel that poses the most significant challenge to Al Shabaab’s dominance on the continent and increasingly serves as a hub for intelligence gathering and logistical coordination among Islamic State branches in the region.

“ISWAP has also recently benefited from external support in the form of trainers deployed by the international Islamic State organization to increase ISWAP capabilities in UAS operations, advanced explosive assembly, and military tactics,” the authors wrote.

The Trump administration has recently focused its African counterterrorism strategy on those two theaters: Somalia, where U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, has ramped up air and drone strikes, and Nigeria, where Washington has launched a series of airstrikes alongside local partners and deployed a small contingent of U.S. personnel to support training efforts.

Yet these developments come as the United States has reduced its military footprint in Africa by 75%.

Gen. Dagvin Anderson, the head of AFRICOM, told lawmakers in May that the departure of American and allied forces had created “an intelligence black hole” on the continent. Anderson also emphasized that his command was operating with the “minimum necessary resources” and that its diminished force posture was compromising its ability to respond to crises.

The new analysis, released on Wednesday, warned that depleted inventories have “created a window of vulnerability for a potential Western Pacific conflict. The time needed to rebuild those inventories has thus become a major concern.”

However, the authors acknowledged that the U.S. “has enough munitions for any plausible scenario in the Iran war.”

U.S. Central Command said more than 12,000 targets were hit during Operation Epic Fury, which CSIS found significantly drew down America’s stockpiles of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM), as well as two vital interceptors: the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the Patriot.

The think tank, a bipartisan policy research organization, estimates that more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles were launched, far exceeding the average annual procurement of 86 over the past decade – and that replenishment could take until 2030 or 2031. It also determined that up to 290 THAAD interceptors were used, with those reserves returning to prior levels only by mid-to-late 2029.

The Pentagon has not publicly disclosed the scale of munitions expended before a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran took effect April 7, citing operational security. But Jules Hurst III, the Defense Department’s acting comptroller, told lawmakers earlier this month that the conflict had cost roughly $29 billion, with additional expenditures still expected.

The authors of the report argue that today’s challenge “isn’t money; it’s time.”

“It takes time to expand production capacity and to build these complex systems. Thus, there will be a window of vulnerability for several years until inventories return to their previous levels and another several years before they get to the levels that war planners desire,” they wrote.

“China is deeply aware that it has no recent combat experience and that it performed poorly in its last war—against Vietnam in 1979,” the analysis continued. “That difference in experience may preserve deterrence until munitions inventories are restored.”

In a statement to Military Times, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly asserted that the U.S. military “has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of President Trump’s strategic goals and beyond.”

“Even still, the president has urged our defense contractors to constantly produce more made-in-America weapons, which are the best in the world. Democrats destroyed our military, but President Trump rebuilt it. Think tank armchair quarterbacks are not read into sensitive information and have no idea what they’re talking about,” she added.

Trump recently held a meeting with executives from major defense contractors — including BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Missile Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon — to discuss expanding production capacity. The president subsequently announced that the CEOs “agreed to quadruple Production of the ‘Exquisite Class’ Weaponry in that we want to reach, as rapidly as possible, the highest levels of quantity.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has conceded that replenishing the Pentagon’s arsenal will take “months and years,” depending on the system in question, emphasized on Wednesday that the process is already underway.

“Defense manufacturers are investing in new plants, and new manufacturing, new production lines, so that we’re getting weapons faster than ever,” Hegseth said during a cabinet meeting at the White House.

Led by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the group will visit Canada, Greenland, Norway and Iceland to “examine U.S. and allied Arctic security, infrastructure and research capabilities amid growing geopolitical competition in the region from Russia and China,” according to a press release.

The itinerary is set to include briefings at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on Arctic defense and strategic competition in the region.

President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to expand Washington’s strategic footprint in Greenland. Earlier this year, Trump suggested that U.S. forces could seize the semiautonomous Danish territory on national security grounds.

His push elicited a sharp rebuke from officials in both Greenland and Denmark, with the latter rejecting any potential for negotiation or territorial acquisition. The episode also roiled relations between the Trump administration and traditional European allies more broadly.

The all-female delegation that sets off on Friday is also expected to meet with U.S. military personnel, Indigenous communities, allied officials, Arctic researchers and regional leaders on emerging operational and strategic dynamics across the region.

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire make up the Democratic side of the delegation, while Sens. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Katie Britt of Alabama, and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi represent the GOP.

Rubio, speaking to reporters following a meeting with foreign ministers in Sweden on Friday, contended that the raison d’etre of NATO was undermined when allies refused to allow the U.S. to use installations on their soil during a war.

“One of the arguments I always made was that these bases in the region provided us logistical options that we wouldn’t otherwise have,” Rubio said. “And when some of those bases are denied to you — during a conflict that we’re involved in — then you question whether that value is still there.”

The U.S.-NATO relationship has been increasingly strained in the wake of the war in Iran, which began on Feb. 28. President Donald Trump believes that NATO allies should have offered much more assistance, especially with regard to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. In basic terms, several of those nations say the war, started by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without their consultation, is not their problem.

“I was never swayed by NATO,” Trump said in an interview in April. “I always knew they were a paper tiger.”

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has moved to scale back its military footprint across Europe, a shift Rubio emphasized predated tensions over Iran.

But some contradictory signals have been sent. On Thursday, Trump announced that the United States would deploy 5,000 additional troops to Poland — the same number of troops the Pentagon said earlier this month would be withdrawn from Germany.

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski welcomed Thursday’s reversal, while his Swedish counterpart, Maria Malmer Stenegard, told reporters the U.S. position “is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate.”

Rubio, for his part, asserted that the United States military has global commitments in the Indo-Pacific, Middle East and Western Hemisphere that it has to meet — and that this requires a constant reevaluation of force posture.

“It’s well understood in the alliance that the United States’ troop presence in Europe is going to be adjusted,” Rubio said, underscoring that the process is already ongoing. “I’m not saying they’re going to be thrilled about it, but they are certainly aware of it.”

“This is not a punitive thing,” he insisted.

Regardless, Rubio said that Trump’s “disappointment” with the alliance’s response to U.S. operations in Iran will “have to be addressed” at the next NATO leaders’ summit, set for Turkey in July. He suggested that the gathering in Ankara will rank among the most consequential in NATO’s history.

Trump, in a Truth Social post, wrote that the decision was sparked by the “successful election” of Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki, whom he “was proud to endorse.”

This comment was met with some consternation, however, since Nawrocki was elected almost a year ago and inaugurated last August. Trump’s social media post added that the deployment was also a byproduct of “our relationship” with the Polish president.

The move came more than a week after the U.S. Army had abruptly canceled the deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, to Poland.

Sean Parnell, a spokesman for the Department of Defense, on Tuesday called it a “temporary delay” as part of the administration’s plan to scale back the total number of Brigade Combat Teams assigned to Europe from four to three.

“This decision was the result of a comprehensive, multilayered process focused on U.S. force posture in Europe,” he asserted.

Parnell went on to hail Poland for demonstrating “both the ability and resolve to defend itself,” noting that “other NATO allies should follow suit.”

In recent months, the president has reevaluated America’s military posture across Europe, amid his mounting exasperation with the alliance in relation to the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran.

Trump’s view is that NATO allies should have rendered greater and more meaningful assistance, especially with regard to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Broadly speaking, the other nations have countered that they have no obligation, and little desire, to involve themselves in a war of choice launched by the U.S. president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump, following a war of words with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, announced a retrenchment of the American military footprint in Germany. The Pentagon initially said in April that it would pull roughly 5,000 troops out of the country, but Trump intimated that a substantially bigger drawdown was under consideration.

The reduction of force from Germany is expected to be completed within the next six to 12 months, according to the Pentagon.

Gen. Dagvin Anderson, head of U.S. Africa Command, seemed concerned that the answer might be “no” when he testified to Congress last week.

Anderson said that Africa is the epicenter of global terrorism, but warned that a 75% U.S. force reduction over the past decade – coupled with a parallel drawdown of allied troops – has created “an intelligence black hole” on the continent.

“AFRICOM’s lack of expeditionary capabilities and diminished force posture compromise our crisis response,” Anderson testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, noting the command is operating with “minimum necessary resources.”

“Our reduced presence on the continent also allows disruptive actors to drive the agenda, undercutting American interests,” he said. “ISIS leadership is [in] Africa. Al-Qaeda’s economic engine is in Africa. Both of these groups share the will and intent to strike our homeland.”

Asked whether his command is capable of disrupting such threats, Anderson gave a circumspect response. “That is very difficult for us to ascertain in the Sahel right now given our limited posture,” he cautioned.

The implicitly critical remarks came just before President Donald Trump ordered a strike that killed the Islamic State’s second-in-command in Lake Chad Basin. Additional armed actions in northeastern Nigeria followed soon after.

“At my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday night. “He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”

Trump identified the target as Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, a top figure in ISIS who was labeled a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” by the State Department in 2023 during former President Joe Biden’s administration.

The joint commando raid was the result of extensive intelligence sharing and reconnaissance between the U.S. and Nigeria, according to the Nigerian Army. The assault on al-Minuki’s fortified enclave in Metele, Borno State, commenced shortly after midnight and culminated in airstrikes on the site following a three-hour clash. Several of the ISIS leader’s lieutenants were also killed in the firefight.

There were no American or Nigerian military injuries reported as of Monday, a U.S. official told Military Times.

AFRICOM, in a statement, said al-Minuki provided “strategic guidance to the ISIS global network on media and financial operations as well as the development and manufacturing of weapons, explosives, and drones.” It added that he had a “significant history of involvement in planning attacks and directing hostage taking.”

Officials in Washington and Lagos announced on Sunday that the two countries conducted further strikes against ISIS in Metele in the ensuing days, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 militants.

The Islamic State has transformed the Sahel into a breeding ground for some of its most lethal affiliates, notably ISIS-West Africa, also known as ISIS-WA, and its rival, Boko Haram.

Both groups are especially active in the Lake Chad Basin, which spans Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Myriad factors — including violent extremism, poverty, food insecurity, climate change and weak governance — have converged to make the theater the locus of one of the world’s most intractable humanitarian crises.

The operation that killed al-Minuki was the most dramatic moment so far in the ongoing effort by the Pentagon to aid the Nigerian government in its quest to beat back insurgents.

On Christmas night, American and Nigerian forces carried out joint missile strikes in the Sokoto State. Trump said “ISIS Terrorist Scum” were the targets. Soon after, the Pentagon deployed roughly 200 troops to the West African nation to assist in training the country’s armed forces as they battle an Islamist insurgency.

Dr. Omar Mohammed, a senior research fellow within the program on extremism at George Washington University, told Military Times that Africa has emerged as a focal point of terrorist activity since the collapse of the Islamic State’s territorial caliphate in 2017.

He said jihadist movements have expanded rapidly across the Sahel, in part through the recruitment of child soldiers who become more susceptible to radical recruitment amid destitution.

“Poverty is the reason that leads to child soldiers,” Mohammed asserted, adding that the Islamic State has infiltrated schools to create conditions in which indoctrinations begin early. “When there is no access to regular schools, imagine: Their teacher is an imam with the Islamic State teaching them how to be terrorists, promising them money. It makes it very concerning.”

According to the United Nations, violence has forced more than 1,827 schools across the Lake Chad Basin to close, depriving thousands of children access to education. Today, Sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the least educated regions on earth.

Mohammed argued that the U.S. must bolster efforts to confront the rise of terrorism in Africa, not scale back.

“Without continued pressure, terrorists will always find a way to plot against the United States, the West and American interests around the world,” he said. “It is their ideology that goes against everything civil and everything democratic.”