American Issues Warning of Further Nigeria Airstrikes as Abuja Speaks of 'Collaborative Continuing Operations'.

The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has indicated new strikes against IS targets in northwest Nigeria. This comes hours after U.S. military forces took action against insurgent bases. The ex-president Donald Trump has characterized these actions as part of a mission to stop the killing of Christians.

“The commander-in-chief was clear previously: the murder of defenseless Christians in Nigeria has to stop,” Hegseth posted on a social platform. “The Department of Defense is constantly prepared, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Grateful for Nigerian government 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 collaborative continuing operations.” This comment came after the former U.S. leader had earlier accused Nigeria’s government of failing to stop Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is officially a secular state with a population almost evenly split between Muslims and Christians. Violence against Christians has garnered focus 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 Preceding the Airstrikes

Nigerian authorities provided the information for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar told a local broadcaster. He explained that he had consulted with his U.S. counterpart, before called the Nigerian president for approval, 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 cooperate with other countries, to fight terrorism, to stop the death of innocent Nigerians … It’s a joint effort.”

The U.S. military’s Africom confirmed the operations in Sokoto state had been executed in coordination with Nigerian authorities.

Context of Violence in Northwestern Nigeria

Wooded areas in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as bases by gangs of armed bandits and members of Islamic State – Sahel Province. Some analysts say this IS branch started when pastoralists banded together to combat bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.

Conflicts 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.

• Priests and pastors have increasingly been taken hostage, 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 killed at least five people and injured dozens more, in a distinct conflict mostly separate 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 conflict monitoring data. States like Katsina and Sokoto have been among the most affected regions.

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

Wider U.S. Military Policy

This intervention occurs amid a wider 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 “foreign quagmires,” the initial period of this term has seen military actions in multiple countries and a significant deployment of forces in another region.

No official from the U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have disclosed if there were any casualties in the latest airstrikes. When asked if more would follow, Tuggar responded: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an old conflict. For us it is something that is continuing.”