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

The American defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has indicated new strikes against ISIS targets in north-western Nigeria. This follows hours after U.S. military forces took action against militant camps. The former president Donald Trump has described these efforts as part of a mission to stop the killing of Christians.

“The president was explicit last month: the murder of innocent Christians in Nigeria needs to cease,” the defense secretary wrote on a social platform. “The Pentagon is always ready, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. Additional actions will follow … Thankful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”

Nigeria's Top Diplomat Describes Actions as Collaborative Effort

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative ongoing 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 constitutionally a non-religious state with a population nearly divided between Muslims and Christians. Violence against Christians has drawn attention from conservative groups in the United States, who describe it as religious persecution. Nigerian authorities have noted that militants target both Christians and Muslims.

Information and Collaboration Behind the Airstrikes

Nigeria supplied the intelligence for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar told a television network. He detailed that he had spoken with his American opposite number, before contacted the Nigerian president for approval, and subsequently conferred 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 work with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end the killing of blameless Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”

The U.S. military’s Africom said the strikes in Sokoto state had been carried out in concert with Nigerian authorities.

Background of Violence in North-West Nigeria

Forests in Sokoto state, which borders Niger, have been used as hideouts by criminal groups and members of ISSP. Some analysts say this affiliate started when herders banded together to fight bandits due to a absence of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.

Clashes between Muslim herders and mostly Christian farming communities have been exacerbated by communal and sectarian factors, but their core causes lie in disputes for resources.

• Priests and religious leaders have been increasingly kidnapped for ransom, though some specialists say this may be driven more by financial motives than religious discrimination.
• A Christmas Eve attack at a mosque in north-east Nigeria took the lives of at least five people and injured dozens more, in a distinct insurgency largely unrelated to the violence in the north-west.

Ongoing Unrest and Data

There have been numerous incidents of violence in Nigeria this year, with about 50% of them targeting civilians, according to research data. States like Katsina and Sokoto have been among the hardest-hit regions.

Tuggar emphasized that the mission was about “safeguarding Nigerians and innocent lives,” not one religion. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”

Wider U.S. Military Policy

This intervention comes amid a wider pattern of American engagement overseas during this administration. Despite campaigning as a “candidate of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “foreign quagmires,” the initial period of this term has seen strikes 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 casualties 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 ongoing.”