US Warns of More Nigeria Military Actions as Abuja Talks of 'Collaborative Ongoing Missions'.

The American defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has warned of new military actions against IS positions in north-western Nigeria. This comes a short time after American forces launched strikes against insurgent bases. The ex-president Donald Trump has characterized these efforts as part of a campaign to halt the killing of Christians.

“The president was clear last month: the murder of defenseless Christians in Nigeria must end,” Hegseth stated on a social platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Thankful for Abuja's support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”

Nigeria's Top Diplomat Describes Actions as Joint Effort

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of joint continuing operations.” This statement came after the former U.S. leader had earlier alleged Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to stop Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is constitutionally a non-religious state with a population almost evenly split between Muslims and Christians. Violence against Christians has garnered focus from religious groups in the United States, who describe it as sectarian targeting. The government in Abuja have noted that armed groups attack both Christians and Muslims.

Intelligence and Collaboration Preceding the Airstrikes

Nigerian authorities provided the information for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar told a local broadcaster. He explained that he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, before contacted 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 work with other countries, to combat terrorism, to stop the death 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 local officials.

Context of Conflict in North-West Nigeria

Wooded areas in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as hideouts by gangs of armed bandits and members of Islamic State – Sahel Province. Some analysts say this IS branch started when herders joined together to fight bandits due to a absence of state support. The region is mostly Muslim.

Conflicts between pastoralists and mostly Christian farming communities have been aggravated by ethnicity and religion, but their core causes lie in disputes for resources.

• Priests and pastors have been increasingly taken hostage, though some experts say this may be driven more by financial motives than sectarian hatred.
• 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 insurgency mostly unrelated to the violence in the north-west.

Continuing Violence and Statistics

There have been thousands of events 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 mission was about “protecting Nigerians and civilians,” not one religion. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”

Broader American Military Posture

This intervention comes amid a broader pattern of U.S. military activity overseas during this administration. Despite campaigning as a “candidate of peace” who promised to withdraw 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 disclosed if there were any casualties in the recent airstrikes. When questioned if more would follow, Tuggar responded: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an long-standing struggle. For us it is something that is ongoing.”