American Warns of Additional Nigerian Strikes as Abuja Speaks of 'Joint Ongoing Operations'.
The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has indicated further strikes against Islamic State strongholds in northwest Nigeria. This comes hours after American forces launched strikes against insurgent bases. The ex-president Donald Trump has characterized these actions as part of a mission to end the slaughter of Christians.
“The commander-in-chief was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria must end,” Hegseth posted on a social media platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. Additional actions will follow … Thankful for Nigerian government backing and collaboration. Merry Christmas!”
Nigeria's Foreign Minister Frames Strikes as Joint Operation
Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, stated on Friday that the American military actions were “part of collaborative ongoing operations.” This statement came after Trump had previously accused Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to stop Christians from being killed.
Nigeria is officially a secular 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. Nigerian authorities have pointed out that militants target both Christians and Muslims.
Information and Collaboration Behind the Airstrikes
Nigerian authorities supplied the intelligence for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a local broadcaster. He detailed that he had spoken with his American opposite number, before called the Nigerian president for approval, and subsequently spoke with the American official again.
“We have been working closely with the Americans,” Tuggar stated. “This is what we’ve always been hoping for, to work with the Americans, to cooperate with other countries, to combat terrorism, to end the death of innocent Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”
The U.S. military’s Africom said the operations in Sokoto state had been executed in coordination with Nigerian authorities.
Background of Violence in North-West Nigeria
Wooded areas in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as hideouts by criminal groups and members of ISSP. Some observers say this affiliate started when pastoralists joined together to fight bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.
Conflicts between Muslim herders and mostly Christian farming communities have been aggravated by communal and sectarian factors, but their core causes lie in disputes for resources.
- Priests and pastors have increasingly been taken hostage, though some experts say this may be driven more by financial motives than sectarian hatred.
- 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 largely 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 stressed that the mission was about “protecting Nigerians and civilians,” not one religion. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not aimed at any religion.”
Wider American Foreign Posture
This intervention comes amid a broader pattern of U.S. military activity overseas during this period. Despite campaigning as a “champion of peace” who promised to extricate the U.S. from “endless wars,” the initial period of this term has seen strikes in multiple countries and a significant deployment of forces in another region.
Neither the U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have disclosed if there were any fatalities in the latest airstrikes. When asked if additional actions would follow, Tuggar responded: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an old conflict. For us it is something that is continuing.”
