US Signals of Further Nigeria Military Actions as Nigeria's Capital Talks of 'Joint Continuing Operations'.
The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has warned of further airstrikes against Islamic State strongholds in northwest Nigeria. This comes hours after American forces launched strikes against insurgent bases. The ex-president Donald Trump has framed these actions as part of a campaign to halt the slaughter of Christians.
“The commander-in-chief was explicit previously: the killing of defenseless Christians in Nigeria has to stop,” the defense secretary posted on a social platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Thankful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”
Nigeria's Top Diplomat Frames Actions as Collaborative Operation
Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of joint continuing operations.” This statement came after the former U.S. leader had earlier accused Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to stop Christians from being killed.
Nigeria is constitutionally a non-religious state with a population nearly divided between Muslims and Christians. Violence against Christians has drawn attention from religious groups in the United States, who frame it as sectarian targeting. The government in Abuja have noted that armed groups target both Christians and Muslims.
Information and Coordination Behind the Missions
Nigeria provided the information for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a local broadcaster. He detailed that he had spoken with his American opposite number, then contacted the Nigerian president for authorization, and then spoke with the American official again.
“We have been collaborating extensively with the Americans,” Tuggar said. “This is what we’ve long desired, to work with the Americans, to work with other countries, to combat terrorism, to end the killing of blameless Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”
The U.S. military’s Africom said the strikes in Sokoto state had been carried out in concert with local officials.
Context of Violence in North-West Nigeria
Wooded areas in Sokoto state, which borders Niger, have been used as hideouts by gangs of armed bandits and members of ISSP. Some analysts say this IS branch started when pastoralists joined together to combat bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.
Clashes between Muslim herders and mostly Christian farming communities have been aggravated by communal and sectarian factors, but their core causes lie in competition for land and water.
- Priests and pastors have increasingly been kidnapped for ransom, though some experts say this may be driven more by criminal incentives than religious discrimination.
- A Christmas Eve attack at a mosque in north-east Nigeria took the lives of at least five people and wounded dozens more, in a separate insurgency mostly unrelated to the violence in the north-west.
Ongoing Violence and Data
There have been numerous 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 stressed that the operation was about “protecting Nigerians and innocent lives,” not one religion. “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 activity overseas during this administration. Despite running as a “champion of peace” who promised to extricate the U.S. from “foreign quagmires,” the first year of this presidency has seen military actions in multiple countries and a major military buildup in another region.
No official from the U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have revealed if there were any casualties in the latest airstrikes. When questioned if more would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an long-standing struggle. For us it is something that is continuing.”
