American Issues Warning of Additional Nigerian Strikes as Nigeria's Capital Talks of 'Collaborative Ongoing Missions'.

The U.S. Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has warned of new airstrikes against Islamic State strongholds in north-western Nigeria. This follows a short time after U.S. military forces launched strikes against militant camps. The former president Donald Trump has described these actions as part of a campaign to halt the killing of Christians.

“The president was explicit previously: the killing 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. Additional actions will follow … Thankful for Nigerian government backing and collaboration. Merry Christmas!”

The Nigerian Foreign Minister Frames Strikes as Collaborative Effort

Nigeria’s top diplomat, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative ongoing operations.” This comment came after Trump had earlier accused Nigeria’s government of not doing enough 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 religious groups in the United States, who describe it as religious persecution. Nigerian authorities have noted that militants attack both Christians and Muslims.

Information and Collaboration Preceding the Airstrikes

Nigeria supplied the intelligence for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He explained that he had consulted 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 stated. “This is what we’ve always been hoping for, to partner with the Americans, to work with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end 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 Nigerian authorities.

Context of Conflict in North-West Nigeria

Forests in Sokoto state, which borders Niger, have been used as hideouts by gangs of armed bandits and members of Islamic State – Sahel Province. Some analysts say this affiliate started when herders joined together to combat bandits due to a absence of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.

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

• Priests and religious leaders have increasingly been taken hostage, though some specialists say this may be driven more by criminal incentives 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 conflict largely unrelated to the violence in the north-west.

Continuing Unrest and Statistics

There have been numerous events 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 most affected regions.

Tuggar stressed that the operation was about “protecting Nigerians and civilians,” not one religion. “It is a collaborative mission,” he said. “It is not aimed at any religion.”

Wider U.S. Foreign Posture

This action comes amid a wider pattern of U.S. military activity 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 presidency has seen military actions in multiple countries and a significant military buildup in another region.

Neither the U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have disclosed if there were any casualties in the recent airstrikes. When questioned if additional actions would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an long-standing struggle. For us it is something that is continuing.”