US Signals of Further Nigerian Strikes as Nigeria's Capital Talks of 'Joint Continuing Missions'.

The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has warned of new military actions against IS strongholds in north-western Nigeria. This comes hours after U.S. military forces launched strikes against militant camps. The former president Donald Trump has framed these efforts as part of a mission to halt the slaughter of Christians.

“The president was clear last month: the murder of defenseless Christians in Nigeria has to stop,” Hegseth stated on a social media platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. There is more ahead … Grateful for Nigerian government backing and collaboration. Merry Christmas!”

The Nigerian Top Diplomat Describes Actions as Collaborative Effort

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of joint continuing operations.” This statement followed after Trump had previously accused Nigeria’s government of failing to prevent Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is constitutionally a non-religious 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 religious persecution. The government in Abuja have noted that militants target both Christians and Muslims.

Information and Coordination Behind the Airstrikes

Nigeria supplied the intelligence for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar told a television network. He explained that he had spoken with his American opposite number, then contacted the Nigerian president for approval, and then conferred with the American official again.

“We have been working closely with the Americans,” Tuggar said. “This is what we’ve always been hoping for, to work with the Americans, to cooperate with other countries, to combat terrorism, to stop the killing of innocent Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”

The U.S. military’s Africa Command confirmed the strikes in Sokoto state had been executed in concert with local officials.

Background of Conflict in North-West Nigeria

Forests in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as bases by gangs of armed bandits and members of ISSP. Some observers say this IS branch started when herders banded together to combat bandits due to a absence of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.

Conflicts between pastoralists and mostly Christian farming communities have been exacerbated by ethnicity and religion, but their roots lie in disputes for resources.

• Clergy and religious leaders have been increasingly taken hostage, though some specialists say this may be driven more by financial motives than sectarian hatred.
• A Christmas Eve attack at a mosque in north-east Nigeria took the lives of at least five people and wounded dozens more, in a separate insurgency largely separate to the violence in the north-west.

Ongoing Violence and Statistics

There have been thousands of events of violence in Nigeria this year, with about half of them affecting civilians, according to conflict monitoring data. States like Katsina and Sokoto have been among the most affected regions.

Tuggar stressed that the operation was about “safeguarding Nigerians and innocent lives,” not a single faith. “It is a collaborative mission,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”

Broader American Foreign Policy

This intervention occurs amid a wider pattern of American activity overseas during this administration. Despite campaigning as a “champion of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “foreign quagmires,” 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. or Nigerian authorities have revealed if there were any casualties in the recent 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.”