American Warns of Additional Nigeria Military Actions as Abuja Speaks of 'Joint Ongoing Missions'.

The U.S. Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has indicated additional military actions against IS strongholds in northwest Nigeria. This comes hours after American forces conducted operations against militant camps. The ex-president Donald Trump has described these efforts as part of a campaign to stop the killing of Christians.

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

The Nigerian Foreign Minister Describes Actions as Joint Effort

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the American military actions were “part of joint continuing operations.” This statement followed after the former U.S. leader had previously alleged Nigeria’s government of failing to stop Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is officially a secular state with a population nearly divided between Muslims and Christians. Attacks against Christians has garnered focus from religious groups in the United States, who frame it as religious persecution. The government in Abuja have pointed out that militants attack both Christians and Muslims.

Intelligence and Collaboration Preceding the Airstrikes

Nigeria supplied the intelligence for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a local broadcaster. He detailed that he had spoken with his American opposite number, then called the Nigerian president for approval, 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 partner with the Americans, to work with other countries, to fight terrorism, to end the death of innocent Nigerians … It’s a joint effort.”

The U.S. military’s Africa Command said the operations in Sokoto state had been carried out in concert with local officials.

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 ISSP. Some analysts say this IS branch originated when pastoralists 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 land and water.

• Clergy 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 injured dozens more, in a separate insurgency mostly unrelated to the violence in the north-west.

Ongoing Violence and Data

There have been thousands of incidents of violence in Nigeria this year, with about half of them targeting 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 “protecting Nigerians and civilians,” not one religion. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”

Wider American Foreign Policy

This action comes amid a broader pattern of U.S. military activity overseas during this period. Despite running as a “champion of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “foreign quagmires,” the initial period of this term has seen military actions in multiple countries and a major deployment of forces in another region.

No official from the U.S. or Nigerian authorities have disclosed if there were any fatalities in the latest airstrikes. When asked 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 ongoing.”