US Warns of More Nigeria Strikes as Nigeria's Capital Talks of 'Joint Continuing Missions'.
The American defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has indicated new military actions against IS strongholds in north-western Nigeria. This follows a short time after U.S. military forces conducted operations against insurgent bases. The ex-president Donald Trump has framed these efforts as part of a campaign to stop the slaughter of Christians.
“The president was clear previously: the murder of defenseless Christians in Nigeria needs to cease,” the defense secretary wrote on a social platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. Additional actions will follow … Thankful for Abuja's support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”
The Nigerian Foreign Minister Frames Strikes as Collaborative Effort
Nigeria’s top diplomat, 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 previously accused Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to prevent 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 militants target both Christians and Muslims.
Intelligence and Collaboration Behind the Missions
Nigeria supplied the information for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar told a local broadcaster. He detailed that he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, before called the Nigerian president for authorization, and subsequently conferred 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 combat terrorism, to stop the death of blameless Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”
The U.S. military’s Africa Command confirmed the strikes in Sokoto state had been carried out in coordination with local officials.
Background of Violence in North-West Nigeria
Forests in Sokoto state, which borders Niger, have been used as hideouts by criminal groups and members of ISSP. Some observers say this affiliate started when pastoralists banded together to fight bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is predominantly Muslim.
Clashes between pastoralists and mostly Christian farming communities have been exacerbated by ethnicity and religion, but their core causes lie in competition for resources.
- Priests and pastors have increasingly been taken hostage, though some specialists say this may be driven more by financial motives than sectarian hatred.
- A Christmas Eve attack at a mosque in north-east Nigeria killed at least five people and wounded dozens more, in a separate insurgency mostly unrelated to the violence in the north-west.
Ongoing Unrest and Statistics
There have been thousands of incidents of violence in Nigeria this year, with about half of them affecting civilians, according to conflict monitoring data. States like Katsina and Sokoto have been among the hardest-hit regions.
Tuggar emphasized that the mission was about “protecting Nigerians and civilians,” not one religion. “It is a collaborative mission,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”
Broader U.S. Military Policy
This intervention occurs amid a broader pattern of U.S. military engagement overseas during this administration. Despite campaigning as a “candidate 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 deployment of forces in another region.
Neither the U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have revealed if there were any fatalities in the recent airstrikes. When questioned if more would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a new phase of an old conflict. For us it is something that is ongoing.”
