US Warns of Additional Nigerian Strikes as Abuja Talks of 'Joint Ongoing Operations'.

The U.S. Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has signaled further strikes against Islamic State positions in north-western Nigeria. This comes hours after American forces took action against militant camps. The former president Donald Trump has described these actions as part of a campaign to end the killing of Christians.

“The president was clear last month: the killing of defenseless Christians in Nigeria needs to cease,” Hegseth stated on a social platform. “The Department of Defense is constantly prepared, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Grateful for Abuja's support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”

Nigeria's Top Diplomat Describes Strikes as Joint Operation

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative ongoing operations.” This statement followed after the former U.S. leader had previously accused Nigeria’s government of failing to stop 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 describe it as sectarian targeting. The government in Abuja have pointed out that militants attack both Christians and Muslims.

Intelligence and Coordination Preceding the Airstrikes

Nigerian authorities supplied the information for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar told a television network. He detailed that he had consulted with his U.S. counterpart, then contacted the Nigerian president for authorization, and subsequently spoke 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 said the strikes in Sokoto state had been executed in coordination with local officials.

Context of Violence in North-West Nigeria

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

Clashes between pastoralists and mostly Christian farming communities have been aggravated by ethnicity and religion, but their core causes lie in competition for resources.

• Priests and religious leaders have increasingly been kidnapped for ransom, though some experts say this may be driven more by financial motives than religious discrimination.
• A Christmas Eve suicide bombing at a mosque in north-east Nigeria killed at least five people and wounded dozens more, in a distinct insurgency mostly unrelated to the violence in the north-west.

Ongoing Unrest and Statistics

There have been numerous incidents of violence in Nigeria this year, with about 50% 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 American Foreign Policy

This intervention occurs amid a broader pattern of U.S. military activity overseas during this administration. Despite campaigning as a “candidate 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 major military buildup 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 new phase of an long-standing struggle. For us it is something that is continuing.”