American Signals of Additional Nigerian Airstrikes as Nigeria's Capital Talks of 'Joint Ongoing Missions'.

The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has warned of further strikes against ISIS positions in northwest Nigeria. This comes hours after U.S. military forces took action against insurgent bases. The ex-president Donald Trump has described these efforts as part of a campaign to halt the killing of Christians.

“The president was explicit previously: the murder of defenseless Christians in Nigeria has to stop,” the defense secretary posted on a social media platform. “The Department of Defense is always ready, so ISIS discovered tonight – on Christmas. Additional actions will follow … Thankful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”

Nigeria's Top Diplomat Describes Actions as Collaborative Effort

Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, remarked on Friday that the U.S. strikes were “part of collaborative ongoing operations.” This comment followed after the former U.S. leader had earlier accused Nigeria’s government of not doing enough to prevent Christians from being killed.

Nigeria is officially a non-religious state with a population nearly divided 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 Coordination Behind the Missions

Nigerian authorities supplied the information for the strikes in Sokoto state, Tuggar informed a television network. He detailed that he had consulted with his U.S. counterpart, then contacted the Nigerian president for authorization, and subsequently conferred with the American official again.

“We have been collaborating extensively 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 combat terrorism, to end the death of innocent Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”

The U.S. military’s Africom confirmed the strikes in Sokoto state had been carried out in coordination with local officials.

Context of Violence in North-West Nigeria

Forests in Sokoto state, which is adjacent to Niger, have been used as hideouts by criminal groups and members of ISSP. Some analysts say this affiliate started 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 ethnicity and religion, but their roots lie in competition for resources.

• Clergy and pastors have increasingly been taken hostage, though some experts say this may be driven more by financial motives than sectarian hatred.
• A Christmas Eve attack 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.

Ongoing 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 stressed that the operation was about “protecting Nigerians and civilians,” not a single faith. “It is a joint operation,” he said. “It is not targeting any religion.”

Wider American Military Posture

This action occurs amid a broader pattern of U.S. military activity overseas during this administration. Despite campaigning as a “champion of peace” who promised to withdraw the U.S. from “foreign quagmires,” the initial period of this term has seen strikes in several countries and a significant military buildup in another region.

Neither the U.S. or Nigerian authorities have revealed if there were any casualties in the latest airstrikes. When questioned if additional actions would follow, Tuggar responded: “You can call it a fresh chapter of an old conflict. For us it is something that is ongoing.”