American Signals of Further Nigeria Airstrikes as Abuja Speaks of 'Collaborative Continuing Operations'.

The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has signaled additional airstrikes against IS strongholds in north-western Nigeria. This comes a short time after American forces conducted operations against insurgent bases. The ex-president Donald Trump has characterized these efforts as part of a campaign to halt the slaughter of Christians.

“The commander-in-chief was explicit previously: the killing of defenseless Christians in Nigeria needs to cease,” the defense secretary wrote on a social platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. There is more ahead … Grateful for Abuja's backing and collaboration. Merry Christmas!”

The Nigerian Foreign Minister Describes Strikes 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 the former U.S. leader had earlier alleged Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to prevent Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is officially a secular state with a population almost evenly split between Muslims and Christians. Attacks against Christians has garnered focus from conservative groups in the United States, who frame it as sectarian targeting. The government in Abuja have noted that armed groups attack both Christians and Muslims.

Intelligence and Coordination Preceding the Airstrikes

Nigerian authorities supplied the intelligence for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar told a local broadcaster. He detailed that he had consulted with his U.S. counterpart, before called the Nigerian president for approval, and then conferred with the American official again.

“We have been collaborating extensively with the Americans,” Tuggar said. “This is what we’ve long desired, to partner with the Americans, to cooperate with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end the killing of blameless Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”

The U.S. military’s Africom said the operations in Sokoto state had been executed in coordination with Nigerian authorities.

Context of Violence in North-West Nigeria

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

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

• Clergy and religious leaders 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 wounded dozens more, in a separate insurgency largely unrelated to the violence in the north-west.

Continuing Unrest and Statistics

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 “protecting Nigerians and innocent lives,” not one religion. “It is a collaborative mission,” he said. “It is not aimed at any religion.”

Broader American Foreign Policy

This action comes amid a wider pattern of American engagement 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 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 new phase of an long-standing struggle. For us it is something that is ongoing.”