American Signals of Additional Nigerian Airstrikes as Abuja Talks of 'Collaborative Ongoing Operations'.

The U.S. Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has signaled new airstrikes against IS strongholds in northwest Nigeria. This comes hours after U.S. military forces conducted operations against militant camps. The ex-president Donald Trump has described these actions as part of a campaign to end the slaughter of Christians.

“The president was explicit last month: the murder of defenseless Christians in Nigeria must end,” the defense secretary wrote on a social media platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. Additional actions will follow … Grateful for Abuja's support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”

Nigeria's Foreign Minister Frames Strikes as Collaborative Operation

Nigeria’s top diplomat, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the American military actions were “part of collaborative continuing operations.” This statement followed after the former U.S. leader had previously accused Nigeria’s government of failing to prevent 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 frame it as religious persecution. Nigerian authorities have noted that militants attack both Christians and Muslims.

Information and Collaboration Behind the Missions

Nigerian authorities provided the intelligence for the airstrikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He detailed that he had consulted with his American opposite number, then called the Nigerian president for authorization, and subsequently spoke with the American official again.

“We have been working closely with the Americans,” Tuggar said. “This is what we’ve always been hoping for, to work with the Americans, to work with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end the killing of innocent Nigerians … It’s a joint effort.”

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

Background of Conflict in Northwestern Nigeria

Wooded areas in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as hideouts by criminal groups and members of Islamic State – Sahel Province. Some observers say this IS branch started when herders banded together to fight bandits due to a lack 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 core causes lie in competition for resources.

• Priests and religious leaders have increasingly been taken hostage, 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 distinct insurgency largely separate to the violence in the north-west.

Ongoing Violence and Statistics

There have been numerous events of violence in Nigeria this year, with about half of them targeting civilians, according to research data. States like Katsina and Sokoto have been among the most affected regions.

Tuggar stressed that the operation was about “safeguarding Nigerians and innocent lives,” not a single faith. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”

Broader American Foreign Policy

This action occurs amid a wider pattern of American engagement overseas during this administration. Despite campaigning as a “champion of peace” who promised to extricate the U.S. from “foreign quagmires,” the first year of this term has seen military actions in several countries and a major deployment of forces in another region.

No official from the U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have disclosed if there were any casualties in the recent airstrikes. When questioned if more would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an long-standing struggle. For us it is something that is ongoing.”