US Warns of Additional Nigeria Military Actions as Abuja Speaks of 'Collaborative Ongoing Operations'.

The American Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has warned of new strikes against Islamic State targets in northwest Nigeria. This comes a short time after U.S. military forces conducted operations against militant camps. The ex-president Donald Trump has framed these actions as part of a mission to stop the killing of Christians.

“The president was explicit last month: the killing of defenseless Christians in Nigeria has to stop,” the defense secretary stated on a social media platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. Additional actions will follow … Grateful for Abuja's support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”

Nigeria's Foreign Minister Describes Strikes as Joint Operation

Nigeria’s top diplomat, Yusuf Tuggar, stated on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative ongoing operations.” This statement came after the former U.S. leader had previously alleged Nigeria’s government of not doing enough 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 frame it as religious persecution. The government in Abuja have pointed out that armed groups attack both Christians and Muslims.

Intelligence and Coordination Behind the Missions

Nigeria supplied the intelligence for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He detailed that he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, then called the Nigerian president for authorization, 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 cooperate with other countries, to combat terrorism, to end the death of innocent Nigerians … It’s a joint effort.”

The U.S. military’s Africa Command confirmed the operations in Sokoto state had been carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities.

Background of Violence in North-West Nigeria

Wooded areas in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as bases by gangs of armed bandits and members of ISSP. Some analysts say this IS branch started when pastoralists joined together to combat bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.

Clashes between pastoralists and predominantly Christian farming communities have been exacerbated by communal and sectarian factors, but their roots lie in competition for land and water.

• Priests and pastors have increasingly been taken hostage, though some specialists say this may be driven more by financial motives than religious discrimination.
• A Christmas Eve suicide bombing at a mosque in north-east Nigeria took the lives of at least five people and wounded dozens more, in a separate conflict mostly unrelated 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 50% of them targeting civilians, according to conflict monitoring data. States like Katsina and Sokoto have been among the most affected regions.

Tuggar stressed that the mission was about “protecting Nigerians and civilians,” not a single faith. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”

Wider American Military Posture

This action occurs amid a wider pattern of American activity overseas during this period. Despite campaigning as a “champion of peace” who promised to extricate the U.S. from “endless wars,” the first year of this presidency has seen military actions in several countries and a major deployment of forces in another region.

Neither the U.S. or Nigerian authorities have revealed if there were any fatalities in the recent airstrikes. When asked if more would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an long-standing struggle. For us it is something that is ongoing.”