American Signals of Further Nigeria Military Actions as Abuja Speaks of 'Collaborative Ongoing Missions'.

The U.S. Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has indicated new strikes against Islamic State strongholds in northwest Nigeria. This comes a short time after U.S. military forces conducted operations against insurgent bases. The ex-president Donald Trump has described these efforts as part of a mission to stop the killing of Christians.

“The commander-in-chief was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria must end,” the defense secretary wrote on a social media platform. “The Department of Defense is constantly prepared, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. There is more ahead … Thankful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”

The Nigerian Foreign Minister Frames Strikes as Collaborative Operation

Nigeria’s top diplomat, Yusuf Tuggar, said on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of joint ongoing operations.” This statement came after Trump had earlier alleged Nigeria’s government of failing to stop Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is constitutionally a non-religious state with a population almost evenly split between Muslims and Christians. Attacks against Christians has drawn attention from religious groups in the United States, who describe it as sectarian targeting. Nigerian authorities have pointed out that armed groups target both Christians and Muslims.

Information and Coordination Behind the Missions

Nigeria provided the information for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar told a local broadcaster. He explained that he had spoken with his American opposite number, before contacted the Nigerian president for approval, 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 partner with the Americans, to cooperate with other countries, to combat terrorism, to end the death of innocent Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”

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

Context of Violence in Northwestern 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 observers say this IS branch started when herders banded together to combat bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is predominantly Muslim.

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

• Clergy and religious leaders 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 killed at least five people and wounded dozens more, in a separate insurgency mostly separate to the violence in the north-west.

Continuing Violence and Statistics

There have been thousands of incidents 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 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.”

Broader American Foreign Policy

This intervention comes amid a broader pattern of U.S. military activity overseas during this administration. Despite running as a “champion of peace” who promised to extricate 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.

Neither the U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have disclosed if there were any fatalities in the recent airstrikes. When questioned if more would follow, Tuggar responded: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an old conflict. For us it is something that is ongoing.”