🔗 Share this article American Signals of More Nigeria Military Actions as Abuja Talks of 'Collaborative Ongoing Missions'. The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has indicated new airstrikes against ISIS targets in north-western Nigeria. This follows a short time after U.S. military forces launched strikes against militant camps. The ex-president Donald Trump has characterized these actions as part of a mission to halt the killing of Christians. “The commander-in-chief was clear last month: the killing of defenseless Christians in Nigeria must end,” Hegseth posted on a social platform. “The Pentagon is constantly prepared, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Grateful for Nigerian government backing and collaboration. Merry Christmas!” The Nigerian Foreign Minister Describes Actions as Collaborative Operation Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, stated on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of joint ongoing operations.” This statement followed after Trump had earlier accused Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to prevent Christians from being killed. Nigeria is constitutionally a secular state with a population nearly divided between Muslims and Christians. Attacks against Christians has drawn attention from conservative 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 Collaboration Preceding the Missions Nigerian authorities provided the intelligence for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a local broadcaster. He detailed that he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, before called the Nigerian president for authorization, and subsequently conferred with the American official again. “We have been working closely with the Americans,” Tuggar stated. “This is what we’ve long desired, to work with the Americans, to work with other countries, to combat terrorism, to end the killing of blameless Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.” The U.S. military’s Africom confirmed the strikes in Sokoto state had been carried out in concert with local officials. Context of Conflict in Northwestern Nigeria Forests in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as hideouts by criminal groups and members of ISSP. Some analysts say this IS branch started when herders banded together to fight bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is predominantly Muslim. Conflicts 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 pastors have been increasingly taken hostage, though some experts say this may be driven more by criminal incentives than religious discrimination. A December 24th 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. Ongoing Unrest and Data There have been thousands of incidents of violence in Nigeria this year, with about 50% 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 “safeguarding Nigerians and civilians,” not a single faith. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.” Wider U.S. Military Policy This action occurs amid a broader pattern of American engagement overseas during this period. Despite running as a “champion of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “endless wars,” the initial period of this presidency has seen strikes in multiple countries and a major deployment of forces in another region. No official from 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 old conflict. For us it is something that is ongoing.”
The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has indicated new airstrikes against ISIS targets in north-western Nigeria. This follows a short time after U.S. military forces launched strikes against militant camps. The ex-president Donald Trump has characterized these actions as part of a mission to halt the killing of Christians. “The commander-in-chief was clear last month: the killing of defenseless Christians in Nigeria must end,” Hegseth posted on a social platform. “The Pentagon is constantly prepared, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Grateful for Nigerian government backing and collaboration. Merry Christmas!” The Nigerian Foreign Minister Describes Actions as Collaborative Operation Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, stated on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of joint ongoing operations.” This statement followed after Trump had earlier accused Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to prevent Christians from being killed. Nigeria is constitutionally a secular state with a population nearly divided between Muslims and Christians. Attacks against Christians has drawn attention from conservative 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 Collaboration Preceding the Missions Nigerian authorities provided the intelligence for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a local broadcaster. He detailed that he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, before called the Nigerian president for authorization, and subsequently conferred with the American official again. “We have been working closely with the Americans,” Tuggar stated. “This is what we’ve long desired, to work with the Americans, to work with other countries, to combat terrorism, to end the killing of blameless Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.” The U.S. military’s Africom confirmed the strikes in Sokoto state had been carried out in concert with local officials. Context of Conflict in Northwestern Nigeria Forests in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as hideouts by criminal groups and members of ISSP. Some analysts say this IS branch started when herders banded together to fight bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is predominantly Muslim. Conflicts 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 pastors have been increasingly taken hostage, though some experts say this may be driven more by criminal incentives than religious discrimination. A December 24th 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. Ongoing Unrest and Data There have been thousands of incidents of violence in Nigeria this year, with about 50% 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 “safeguarding Nigerians and civilians,” not a single faith. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.” Wider U.S. Military Policy This action occurs amid a broader pattern of American engagement overseas during this period. Despite running as a “champion of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “endless wars,” the initial period of this presidency has seen strikes in multiple countries and a major deployment of forces in another region. No official from 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 old conflict. For us it is something that is ongoing.”