US Issues Warning of Additional Nigerian Strikes as Nigeria's Capital Talks of 'Collaborative Ongoing Operations'.

The U.S. Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has indicated additional military actions against IS strongholds in northwest Nigeria. This follows a short time after U.S. military forces conducted operations against insurgent bases. The ex-president Donald Trump has described these efforts as part of a mission to end the killing of Christians.

“The commander-in-chief was explicit previously: the murder of defenseless Christians in Nigeria has to stop,” Hegseth posted on a social platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. Additional actions will follow … Grateful for Abuja's backing and collaboration. Merry Christmas!”

Nigeria's Top Diplomat Describes Strikes as Joint Effort

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, stated on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of joint continuing operations.” This comment came after the former U.S. leader had previously alleged Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to stop Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is constitutionally a secular state with a population almost evenly split between Muslims and Christians. Violence against Christians has drawn attention from conservative groups in the United States, who frame it as religious persecution. The government in Abuja have noted that armed groups target both Christians and Muslims.

Information and Coordination Preceding the Airstrikes

Nigeria provided the intelligence for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar told a local broadcaster. He detailed that he had consulted with his American opposite number, 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 always been hoping for, to work with the Americans, to cooperate with other countries, to combat terrorism, to end the death of blameless Nigerians … It’s a joint effort.”

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

Context of Violence in North-West Nigeria

Forests 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 fight bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.

Clashes between pastoralists and predominantly Christian farming communities have been aggravated by ethnicity and religion, but their core causes lie in disputes for land and water.

• Clergy and religious leaders have increasingly been taken hostage, though some experts say this may be driven more by criminal incentives than sectarian hatred.
• 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 distinct conflict largely separate to the violence in the north-west.

Continuing Unrest and Data

There have been thousands of incidents of violence in Nigeria this year, with about half of them targeting 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.”

Wider U.S. Foreign Posture

This action occurs amid a broader pattern of American activity overseas during this administration. Despite campaigning 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 several 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 latest airstrikes. When asked if more would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a new phase of an long-standing struggle. For us it is something that is continuing.”