![\"Pete](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2e3e22cc89b14fa2bef248f292f0706f.jpg\")
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that there was \u2018more to come\u2019 (Alex Brandon\/AP)<\/p>\nIn a Christmas evening post on his social media site, Mr Trump did not provide details or mention the extent of the damage caused by the strikes in Sokoto state.<\/p>\n
A US Defence Department official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss details not made public, said the US worked with Nigeria to carry out the strikes, and that they had been approved by that country\u2019s government.<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the co-operation included exchange of intelligence and strategic co-ordination in ways \u201cconsistent with international law, mutual respect for sovereignty and shared commitments to regional and global security\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump said the airstrikes were launched against Islamic State militants \u201cwho have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians\u201d.<\/p>\n
Residents and security analysts have said Nigeria\u2019s security crisis affects both Christians, predominant in the south, and Muslims, who are the majority in the north.<\/p>\n
\u201cTerrorist violence in any form, whether directed at Christians, Muslims or other communities, remains an affront to Nigeria\u2019s values and to international peace and security,\u201d Nigeria\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.<\/p>\n
Nigeria is battling multiple armed groups, including at least two affiliated with the Islamic State \u2014 an offshoot of the Boko Haram extremist group known as the Islamic State West Africa Province in the northeast, and the less-known Lakurawa group prominent in the northwestern states such as Sokoto where the gangs use large swathes of forests connecting states as hideouts.<\/p>\n
Security analysts said the target of the US strikes could be the Lakurawa group, which in the last year has increasingly become lethal in the region, often targeting remote communities and security forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cLakurawa is a group that is actually controlling territories in Nigeria, in Sokoto state and in other states like Kebbi,\u201d said Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher at Good Governance Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the north west, there has been the incursion of violent extremist groups that are ideologically driven,\u201d he said, blaming the incursion on the near absence of the state and security forces in hot spots.<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s government has previously said in response to Mr Trump\u2019s criticisms that people of many faiths, not just Christians, have suffered attacks at the hands of extremists groups.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump ordered the Pentagon last month to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria to try and curb the so-called Christian persecution.<\/p>\n
The US State Department recently announced it would restrict visas for Nigerians and their family members involved in killing Christians there.<\/p>\n
And the US recently designated Nigeria a \u201ccountry of particular concern\u201d under the International Religious Freedom Act.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump said the US defence officials had \u201cexecuted numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing\u201d and added that \u201cour country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper\u201d.<\/p>\n
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that there was \u2018more to come\u2019 (Alex Brandon\/AP)<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s population of 220 million is split almost equally between Christians and Muslims. The country has long faced insecurity from various fronts including the Boko Haram extremist group, which seeks to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law and has also targeted Muslims it deems not Muslim enough.<\/p>\n
But attacks in Nigeria often have varying motives. There are religiously motivated ones targeting both Christians and Muslims, clashes between farmers and herders over dwindling resources, communal rivalries, secessionist groups and ethnic clashes.<\/p>\n
The US security footprint has diminished in Africa, where military partnerships have either been scaled down or cancelled. US forces likely would have to be drawn from other parts of the world for any larger-scale military intervention in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump has nonetheless kept up the pressure as Nigeria faced a series of attacks on schools and churches in violence that experts and residents say targets both Christians and Muslims.<\/p>\n
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on Thursday night on X: \u201cThe President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hegseth said US military forces are \u201calways ready, so ISIS found out tonight \u2014 on Christmas\u201d and added, \u201cMore to come\u2026 Grateful for Nigerian government support & co-operation\u201d before signing off, \u201cMerry Christmas!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a Christmas evening post on his social media site, Mr Trump did not provide details or mention…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-655528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115784961230137904","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}