US Warns of More Nigerian Airstrikes as Nigeria's Capital Talks of 'Collaborative Continuing Operations'.
The U.S. Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has signaled additional strikes against Islamic State targets in north-western Nigeria. This comes hours after U.S. military forces launched strikes against militant camps. The ex-president Donald Trump has described these actions as part of a campaign to stop the slaughter of Christians.
“The commander-in-chief was explicit last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria has to stop,” Hegseth posted on a social media platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. There is more ahead … Thankful for Abuja's support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”
The Nigerian Foreign Minister Describes Actions as Collaborative Operation
Nigeria’s top diplomat, Yusuf Tuggar, said on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative continuing operations.” This comment came after Trump had previously 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. Attacks against Christians has garnered focus from conservative groups in the United States, who describe it as religious persecution. Nigerian authorities have pointed out that militants target both Christians and Muslims.
Information and Coordination Behind the Airstrikes
Nigerian authorities provided the intelligence for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He explained that he had spoken with his American opposite number, before contacted the Nigerian president for authorization, and then spoke with the American official again.
“We have been collaborating extensively with the Americans,” Tuggar said. “This is what we’ve long desired, to work with the Americans, to cooperate with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end the death of innocent 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 local officials.
Background of Conflict in North-West Nigeria
Wooded areas in Sokoto state, which borders 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 predominantly Muslim.
Clashes between pastoralists and predominantly Christian farming communities have been exacerbated by ethnicity and religion, but their core causes lie in competition for resources.
- Clergy and religious leaders have been increasingly kidnapped for ransom, though some specialists 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 injured dozens more, in a separate insurgency 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 affecting civilians, according to research data. States like Katsina and Sokoto have been among the hardest-hit regions.
Tuggar emphasized that the mission was about “protecting Nigerians and innocent lives,” not one religion. “It is a collaborative mission,” he said. “It is not aimed at any religion.”
Wider U.S. Foreign Policy
This action occurs amid a wider pattern of U.S. military engagement overseas during this period. Despite running as a “candidate of peace” who promised to extricate the U.S. from “foreign quagmires,” the first year of this term has seen military actions in several countries and a major military buildup in another region.
Neither the U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have revealed if there were any fatalities in the latest airstrikes. When questioned if additional actions would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a new phase of an old conflict. For us it is something that is continuing.”
