US Warns of Additional Nigeria Military Actions as Abuja Speaks of 'Collaborative Ongoing Missions'.

The American Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has signaled further airstrikes against ISIS targets in northwest Nigeria. This comes hours after U.S. military forces took action against insurgent bases. The former president Donald Trump has described these efforts as part of a campaign to stop the slaughter of Christians.

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

The Nigerian Foreign Minister Frames Actions as Collaborative Operation

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, stated on Friday that the American military actions were “part of collaborative continuing operations.” This comment came after Trump had previously accused Nigeria’s government of failing to stop Christians from being killed.

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

Information and Collaboration Behind the Missions

Nigeria supplied the intelligence for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar told a local broadcaster. He explained that he had consulted with his U.S. counterpart, before called the Nigerian president for authorization, and subsequently spoke 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 partner with the Americans, to work with other countries, to fight terrorism, to stop the death of blameless Nigerians … It’s a joint effort.”

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

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 observers say this IS branch originated when pastoralists banded together to fight bandits due to a lack of state support. The region is predominantly 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 increasingly been taken hostage, though some experts 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 separate conflict 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 50% of them targeting civilians, according to research data. States like Katsina and Sokoto have been among the hardest-hit regions.

Tuggar stressed that the operation was about “protecting Nigerians and civilians,” not one religion. “It is a collaborative mission,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”

Broader American Foreign Posture

This action comes amid a broader pattern of American activity overseas during this period. Despite running as a “champion of peace” who promised to extricate the U.S. from “foreign quagmires,” the first year 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 revealed if there were any fatalities in the recent airstrikes. When questioned if additional actions would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an old conflict. For us it is something that is continuing.”