American Issues Warning of Additional Nigeria Strikes as Nigeria's Capital Speaks of 'Joint Continuing Operations'.

The American defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has indicated further airstrikes against IS targets in north-western Nigeria. This comes a short time after U.S. military forces launched strikes against insurgent bases. The former president Donald Trump has framed these efforts as part of a campaign to stop the killing of Christians.

“The president was clear last month: the killing of defenseless Christians in Nigeria has to stop,” Hegseth posted on a social media platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. There is more ahead … Grateful for Abuja's support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”

The Nigerian Foreign Minister Frames Actions as Collaborative Effort

Nigeria’s top diplomat, Yusuf Tuggar, stated on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative continuing operations.” This statement followed after Trump had previously alleged Nigeria’s government of failing to prevent Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is officially a non-religious state with a population nearly divided between Muslims and Christians. Attacks against Christians has drawn attention from religious groups in the United States, who describe it as religious persecution. The government in Abuja have noted that militants target both Christians and Muslims.

Intelligence and Coordination Preceding the Airstrikes

Nigeria supplied the intelligence for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He detailed that he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, before contacted 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 partner with the Americans, to work with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end the killing of blameless Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”

The U.S. military’s Africa Command confirmed the strikes in Sokoto state had been executed in coordination with Nigerian authorities.

Background of Conflict in Northwestern 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 IS branch started when pastoralists joined together to combat bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.

Conflicts between pastoralists and mostly Christian farming communities have been exacerbated by communal and sectarian factors, but their core causes lie in competition for land and water.

• Priests and pastors have been increasingly taken hostage, though some experts say this may be driven more by financial motives than sectarian hatred.
• A December 24th 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 separate to the violence in the north-west.

Ongoing Violence and Statistics

There have been numerous events of violence in Nigeria this year, with about 50% of them targeting civilians, according to conflict monitoring data. States like Katsina and Sokoto have been among the most affected regions.

Tuggar stressed that the mission was about “safeguarding Nigerians and civilians,” not a single faith. “It is a collaborative mission,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”

Broader American Foreign Policy

This intervention comes amid a wider pattern of American activity overseas during this period. Despite campaigning as a “candidate of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “foreign quagmires,” the initial period of this presidency has seen military actions in multiple countries and a major deployment of forces in another region.

No official from the U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have disclosed if there were any fatalities in the recent airstrikes. When asked if additional actions would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an old conflict. For us it is something that is ongoing.”