American Warns of Additional Nigerian Military Actions as Abuja Talks of 'Collaborative Continuing Missions'.

The American Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has indicated new airstrikes against IS targets in northwest Nigeria. This comes a short time after U.S. military forces took action against insurgent bases. The former president Donald Trump has framed these actions as part of a mission to halt the killing of Christians.

“The commander-in-chief was explicit last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria must end,” the defense secretary wrote on a social media platform. “The Pentagon is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Grateful for Nigerian government backing and collaboration. Merry Christmas!”

Nigeria's Top Diplomat Describes Actions as Joint Effort

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative continuing operations.” This comment came after Trump had previously alleged Nigeria’s government of failing to prevent Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is officially a non-religious state with a population nearly divided between Muslims and Christians. Attacks against Christians has garnered focus from religious groups in the United States, who frame it as religious persecution. Nigerian authorities have pointed out that militants attack both Christians and Muslims.

Intelligence and Collaboration Behind the Missions

Nigeria supplied the intelligence for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He explained that he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, then contacted the Nigerian president for authorization, and then conferred with the American official again.

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

The U.S. military’s Africom confirmed the operations in Sokoto state had been executed in coordination with local officials.

Context of Conflict in North-West Nigeria

Wooded areas in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as bases by criminal groups and members of ISSP. Some observers say this IS branch originated when herders banded together to fight bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.

Conflicts between pastoralists and predominantly Christian farming communities have been exacerbated by ethnicity and religion, but their core causes lie in disputes for land and water.

• Priests and pastors have increasingly been taken hostage, though some experts say this may be driven more by financial motives than sectarian hatred.
• A December 24th attack 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.

Continuing Unrest and Data

There have been numerous 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 most affected regions.

Tuggar emphasized that the operation was about “safeguarding Nigerians and civilians,” not a single faith. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not aimed at any religion.”

Wider American Foreign Posture

This intervention occurs amid a wider pattern of U.S. military engagement overseas during this period. Despite campaigning as a “champion of peace” who promised to extricate the U.S. from “foreign quagmires,” the first year of this term has seen military actions in several countries and a significant deployment of forces in another region.

No official from the U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have revealed if there were any casualties in the recent airstrikes. When asked if more would follow, Tuggar responded: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an old conflict. For us it is something that is continuing.”