American Issues Warning of Additional Nigeria Military Actions as Nigeria's Capital Talks of 'Joint Ongoing Operations'.
The American defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has warned of further strikes against ISIS targets in northwest Nigeria. This follows a short time after U.S. military forces conducted operations against militant camps. The ex-president Donald Trump has framed these efforts as part of a mission to halt the slaughter of Christians.
“The president was explicit last month: the murder of innocent Christians in Nigeria must end,” the defense secretary wrote on a social media platform. “The Pentagon is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. There is more ahead … Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”
Nigeria's Top Diplomat Frames Strikes as Joint Operation
Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative continuing operations.” This comment followed after Trump had earlier alleged Nigeria’s government of failing to stop Christians from being killed.
Nigeria is constitutionally a secular state with a population almost evenly split between Muslims and Christians. Attacks against Christians has garnered focus from conservative groups in the United States, who describe it as religious persecution. The government in Abuja have noted that militants attack both Christians and Muslims.
Information and Collaboration Preceding the Airstrikes
Nigerian authorities provided the information for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He detailed that he had consulted with his U.S. counterpart, then contacted the Nigerian president for authorization, and then spoke with the American official again.
“We have been collaborating extensively with the Americans,” Tuggar stated. “This is what we’ve long desired, to work with the Americans, to work with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end the death of innocent Nigerians … It’s a joint effort.”
The U.S. military’s Africa Command said the strikes in Sokoto state had been executed in coordination with local officials.
Context of Violence in Northwestern Nigeria
Wooded areas in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as bases by criminal groups and members of ISSP. Some analysts say this IS branch originated when pastoralists joined together to combat bandits due to a absence of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.
Conflicts between Muslim herders and mostly Christian farming communities have been aggravated by ethnicity and religion, but their roots lie in competition for resources.
- Priests and religious leaders have increasingly been kidnapped for ransom, though some specialists say this may be driven more by financial motives than religious discrimination.
- A Christmas Eve suicide bombing at a mosque in north-east Nigeria took the lives of at least five people and wounded dozens more, in a separate conflict mostly unrelated to the violence in the north-west.
Continuing Violence and Data
There have been thousands of incidents of violence in Nigeria this year, with about half of them targeting civilians, according to research data. States like Katsina and Sokoto have been among the most affected regions.
Tuggar emphasized that the operation was about “protecting Nigerians and civilians,” not a single faith. “It is a collaborative mission,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”
Wider U.S. Military Policy
This intervention comes amid a broader pattern of American engagement overseas during this administration. Despite running as a “candidate of peace” who promised to extricate the U.S. from “endless wars,” the first year of this presidency has seen strikes in several countries and a major deployment of forces in another region.
Neither the U.S. or Nigerian authorities have revealed if there were any casualties in the recent airstrikes. When questioned if more would follow, Tuggar responded: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an old conflict. For us it is something that is continuing.”