US Issues Warning of Additional Nigeria Airstrikes as Abuja Talks of 'Joint Ongoing Missions'.

The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has signaled new airstrikes against ISIS targets in northwest Nigeria. This follows hours after U.S. military forces launched strikes against militant camps. The ex-president Donald Trump has framed these actions as part of a mission to end the slaughter of Christians.

“The president was explicit last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria must end,” Hegseth posted on a social 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 Foreign Minister Describes Actions as Collaborative Effort

Nigeria’s top diplomat, 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 not doing enough to prevent Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is officially 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 religious persecution. The government in Abuja have pointed out that armed groups target both Christians and Muslims.

Intelligence and Coordination Behind the Airstrikes

Nigeria supplied the information for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He detailed that he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, then contacted 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 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 Africom said the strikes in Sokoto state had been executed in coordination with Nigerian authorities.

Background of Violence in Northwestern Nigeria

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

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

• Priests and pastors have been increasingly taken hostage, though some specialists say this may be driven more by financial motives than religious discrimination.
• A Christmas Eve attack at a mosque in north-east Nigeria took the lives of at least five people and injured dozens more, in a distinct conflict largely unrelated to the violence in the north-west.

Ongoing Violence and Data

There have been numerous 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 hardest-hit regions.

Tuggar stressed that the mission 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 U.S. Military Policy

This intervention comes amid a wider pattern of U.S. military engagement overseas during this period. Despite campaigning as a “champion of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “endless wars,” the initial period of this presidency has seen military actions 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 latest 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 continuing.”