The United States has launched a series of “powerful and deadly strikes” against the Islamic State (IS) group in northwestern Nigeria, President Donald Trump announced late Thursday. These operations, described by the US leader as targeting “terrorist scum,” were conducted in close coordination with Nigerian forces. The move signifies a notable escalation in US military engagement against Islamist militants in the West African nation, following earlier directives from President Trump for the US military to prepare for potential action in the region to counter extremist threats.
US Africa Command (Africom) later confirmed the Thursday attack took place in Sokoto state, a region increasingly grappling with persistent insecurity and the presence of extremist elements. Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar affirmed the operation was a “joint effort” specifically aimed at “terrorists,” underscoring the depth of bilateral cooperation between Washington and Abuja. Tuggar indicated that further joint military actions remain a distinct possibility, contingent on ongoing strategic discussions and decisions between the leadership of both countries to address evolving security challenges.
President Trump, in a post on Truth Social, asserted that the US military “executed numerous perfect strikes” against the group he specifically accused of “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.” He reiterated his firm commitment that “under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.” These strong statements align with a narrative circulating in some right-wing US political circles regarding a purported genocide against Nigeria’s Christian population, claims that have generated considerable debate.
However, Nigerian officials have offered a nuanced and often contrasting perspective on the complex nature of the conflict within their borders. Foreign Minister Tuggar explicitly stated that the joint operation “has nothing to do with a particular religion,” emphasizing a broader, non-sectarian fight against all forms of terrorism threatening national stability. President Bola Tinubu’s adviser, Daniel Bwala, while welcoming US assistance in tackling insurgents, firmly asserted Nigeria’s sovereignty and clarified that jihadist groups indiscriminately target people of all faiths, or none, within the country, including a significant number of Muslims.
Independent groups monitoring violence in Nigeria largely dispute the assertion that Christians are disproportionately targeted or facing a genocide. Organisations like Acled, which meticulously analyses political violence data, indicate that while thousands have been killed by groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the northeast over the past decade, a significant majority of victims have been Muslims. Human rights groups similarly report no substantive evidence supporting claims of a systematic, religiously motivated genocide specifically targeting Christians.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and roughly evenly divided between Christian and Muslim populations, faces multifaceted and deeply entrenched security challenges that extend beyond the Islamist insurgency. In the central regions, frequent and deadly clashes occur between predominantly Muslim nomadic herders and often Christian settled farming communities, driven primarily by escalating disputes over dwindling land and water resources. These cycles of retaliatory attacks have tragically resulted in thousands of deaths, with credible reports indicating atrocities committed by both sides in the protracted conflict.
Earlier, President Trump had controversially designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern,” citing an “existential threat” to its Christian population and claiming “thousands” had been killed, without providing specific corroborating evidence for these figures. This US State Department designation is typically reserved for nations deemed to be engaged in severe violations of religious freedom, which can potentially lead to various sanctions. President Tinubu’s government, in response, reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to working collaboratively with the US and the broader international community to protect all communities, irrespective of their faith or ethnic background, across the diverse nation.
The recent strikes in Nigeria are not isolated, occurring shortly after a “massive strike” by the US against IS targets in Syria. Last week, US Central Command (Centcom) reported that fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery struck more than 70 targets across central Syria, with significant support from Jordanian aircraft. This broader context underscores a consistent and continued US commitment to combating the Islamic State globally, adapting its operational strategies to address the evolving and geographically dispersed threats posed by the extremist group.
