American Issues Warning of Additional Nigerian Military Actions as Abuja Talks of 'Joint Ongoing Missions'.

The U.S. Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has warned of additional military actions against ISIS positions in north-western Nigeria. This comes hours after American forces took action against militant camps. The former president Donald Trump has framed these efforts as part of a campaign to end the killing of Christians.

“The president was explicit last month: the murder of defenseless Christians in Nigeria must end,” Hegseth wrote on a social media platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”

The Nigerian Foreign Minister Frames Strikes as Collaborative Effort

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, stated on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of joint ongoing operations.” This comment 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. Attacks against Christians has drawn attention from religious groups in the United States, who frame it as sectarian targeting. Nigerian authorities have noted that militants target both Christians and Muslims.

Intelligence and Collaboration Preceding the Missions

Nigeria provided the information for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He detailed that he had spoken with his American opposite number, before contacted the Nigerian president for authorization, and then spoke 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 partner with the Americans, to work with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end the death of innocent Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”

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

Context of Violence in North-West Nigeria

Forests 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 herders joined together to combat bandits due to a absence of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.

Conflicts between Muslim herders and predominantly Christian farming communities have been aggravated by communal and sectarian factors, but their roots lie in disputes for resources.

• Priests and religious leaders have been increasingly taken hostage, though some specialists say this may be driven more by criminal incentives 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 distinct conflict mostly unrelated to the violence in the north-west.

Continuing Unrest and Data

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 hardest-hit 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 aimed at any religion.”

Wider American Foreign Policy

This intervention occurs amid a wider pattern of U.S. military activity overseas during this period. Despite running as a “candidate of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “endless wars,” the initial period of this presidency has seen strikes in multiple countries and a significant 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 asked if more would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a new phase of an old conflict. For us it is something that is continuing.”