🔗 Share this article US Issues Warning of More Nigerian Strikes as Abuja Talks of 'Collaborative Continuing Missions'. The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has signaled further strikes against IS positions in northwest Nigeria. This follows hours after American forces conducted operations against insurgent bases. The former president Donald Trump has framed these actions as part of a campaign to halt the slaughter of Christians. “The commander-in-chief was clear previously: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria needs to cease,” the defense secretary wrote on a social media platform. “The Pentagon is constantly prepared, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Grateful for Abuja's backing and collaboration. Merry Christmas!” The Nigerian Top Diplomat Describes Actions as Collaborative Operation Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative continuing operations.” This comment followed after Trump had previously alleged Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to prevent Christians from being killed. Nigeria is constitutionally a secular 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. The government in Abuja have noted that militants target both Christians and Muslims. Information and Coordination Behind the Missions Nigeria provided the information for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He detailed that he had consulted with his American opposite number, then contacted the Nigerian president for authorization, and subsequently conferred with the American official again. “We have been collaborating extensively with the Americans,” Tuggar stated. “This is what we’ve always been hoping for, to partner with the Americans, to cooperate with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end 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. Context of Violence in Northwestern Nigeria Forests in Sokoto state, which borders Niger, have been used as bases by criminal groups and members of Islamic State – Sahel Province. Some observers say this affiliate started when herders banded 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 aggravated by communal and sectarian factors, but their core causes lie in competition for resources. Priests and pastors have been increasingly kidnapped for ransom, though some experts say this may be driven more by financial motives than religious discrimination. A Christmas Eve suicide bombing at a mosque in north-east Nigeria took the lives of at least five people and injured dozens more, in a separate insurgency largely unrelated to the violence in the north-west. Continuing Unrest and Statistics There have been thousands of events 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 emphasized that the operation was about “safeguarding Nigerians and innocent lives,” not a single faith. “It is a collaborative mission,” he said. “It is not aimed at any religion.” Wider American Foreign Posture This action occurs amid a wider pattern of American engagement overseas during this administration. Despite running as a “champion of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “endless wars,” the initial period of this term has seen strikes in several countries and a major military buildup in another region. No official from the U.S. or Nigerian authorities have revealed if there were any fatalities in the latest airstrikes. When questioned if more would follow, Tuggar responded: “You can call it a new phase of an long-standing struggle. For us it is something that is continuing.”
The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has signaled further strikes against IS positions in northwest Nigeria. This follows hours after American forces conducted operations against insurgent bases. The former president Donald Trump has framed these actions as part of a campaign to halt the slaughter of Christians. “The commander-in-chief was clear previously: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria needs to cease,” the defense secretary wrote on a social media platform. “The Pentagon is constantly prepared, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Grateful for Abuja's backing and collaboration. Merry Christmas!” The Nigerian Top Diplomat Describes Actions as Collaborative Operation Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative continuing operations.” This comment followed after Trump had previously alleged Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to prevent Christians from being killed. Nigeria is constitutionally a secular 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. The government in Abuja have noted that militants target both Christians and Muslims. Information and Coordination Behind the Missions Nigeria provided the information for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He detailed that he had consulted with his American opposite number, then contacted the Nigerian president for authorization, and subsequently conferred with the American official again. “We have been collaborating extensively with the Americans,” Tuggar stated. “This is what we’ve always been hoping for, to partner with the Americans, to cooperate with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end 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. Context of Violence in Northwestern Nigeria Forests in Sokoto state, which borders Niger, have been used as bases by criminal groups and members of Islamic State – Sahel Province. Some observers say this affiliate started when herders banded 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 aggravated by communal and sectarian factors, but their core causes lie in competition for resources. Priests and pastors have been increasingly kidnapped for ransom, though some experts say this may be driven more by financial motives than religious discrimination. A Christmas Eve suicide bombing at a mosque in north-east Nigeria took the lives of at least five people and injured dozens more, in a separate insurgency largely unrelated to the violence in the north-west. Continuing Unrest and Statistics There have been thousands of events 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 emphasized that the operation was about “safeguarding Nigerians and innocent lives,” not a single faith. “It is a collaborative mission,” he said. “It is not aimed at any religion.” Wider American Foreign Posture This action occurs amid a wider pattern of American engagement overseas during this administration. Despite running as a “champion of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “endless wars,” the initial period of this term has seen strikes in several countries and a major military buildup in another region. No official from the U.S. or Nigerian authorities have revealed if there were any fatalities in the latest airstrikes. When questioned if more would follow, Tuggar responded: “You can call it a new phase of an long-standing struggle. For us it is something that is continuing.”