The U.S. Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, has indicated new airstrikes against Islamic State targets in north-western Nigeria. This comes a short time after U.S. military forces conducted operations against insurgent bases. The ex-president Donald Trump has framed these efforts as part of a mission to halt the killing of Christians.
“The president was explicit previously: the killing of defenseless Christians in Nigeria must end,” Hegseth stated on a social 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 top diplomat, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative ongoing operations.” This statement followed after the former U.S. leader had earlier alleged Nigeria’s government of failing to stop Christians from being killed.
Nigeria is constitutionally a non-religious state with a population almost evenly split between Muslims and Christians. Attacks against Christians has garnered focus from religious groups in the United States, who describe it as sectarian targeting. Nigerian authorities have noted that armed groups target both Christians and Muslims.
Nigeria supplied the intelligence for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He detailed that he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, before called the Nigerian president for authorization, and then conferred with the American official again.
“We have been working closely with the Americans,” Tuggar said. “This is what we’ve long desired, to work with the Americans, to cooperate with other countries, to combat terrorism, to end the killing of blameless Nigerians … It’s a joint effort.”
The U.S. military’s Africa Command confirmed the operations in Sokoto state had been carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities.
Wooded areas in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as bases by gangs of armed bandits and members of ISSP. Some observers say this IS branch originated when pastoralists joined together to combat bandits due to a absence of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.
Clashes between pastoralists and predominantly Christian farming communities have been aggravated by ethnicity and religion, but their core causes lie in competition for resources.
There have been thousands of 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 hardest-hit regions.
Tuggar emphasized that the mission was about “safeguarding Nigerians and innocent lives,” not a single faith. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not aimed at any religion.”
This intervention comes amid a wider pattern of U.S. military engagement overseas during this period. Despite campaigning as a “champion of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “endless wars,” the first year of this presidency has seen strikes 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 more would follow, Tuggar replied: “You can call it a new phase of an old conflict. For us it is something that is ongoing.”
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