The US carried out “powerful and deadly” strikes on Thursday against so-called Islamic State group (IS) militants in northwestern Nigeria, US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.
The attack marked a major escalation in an offensive that Nigeria’s overstretched military has struggled with for years, as it is battling multiple armed groups.
Trump said that “terrorist scum” targeted in the strikes were “viciously targeting and killing mostly innocent Christians.”
The US military “executed numerous perfect strikes,” Trump said.
The US Africa Command (AFRICOM) later said Thursday’s attack was a joint operation, part of an exchange of intelligence and strategic coordination between the two countries.
In November, Trump ordered the US military to prepare for action in Nigeria to counter Islamist extremist groups.
The strikes launched by the US are considered crucial help for Nigeria’s security forces, which are often overstretched and outgunned as they fight multiple security crises across different regions.
In states like Sokoto, the military frequently carries out airstrikes targeting militant hideouts and Nigeria has embarked on mass recruitment of security forces.
Cooperation with the Nigerian government
On Friday morning, Nigeria’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the country’s authorities “remain engaged in structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States of America, in addressing the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism”.
“This has led to precise attacks on terrorist targets in Nigeria through airstrikes in the northwest,” the statement added.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu insisted that the country is religiously tolerant and said security challenges affect people “irrespective of religions and regions.”
Trump has previously designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” due to the “existential threat” it poses to its Christian population. The designation by the US Department of State allows for sanctions against countries “engaged in serious violations of religious freedom.”
Nigeria’s security crisis impacts both Christians, predominant in the south, and Muslims, who form the majority in the north, according to residents and security analysts.
Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa have wreaked havoc in northeastern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands of people, yet most of them were Muslims, according to ACLED, a group that analyses political violence around the world.
The armed groups operating in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, include at least two organisations linked to the Islamic State: the Islamic State of West Africa, an offshoot of Boko Haram that operates mainly in the northeast, and the lesser-known Islamic State’s Shahel Province (ISSP), known locally as Lakurawa, with a strong presence in the northwest.
US and Nigerian authorities did not specify which organisation had been targeted.
The motives for attacks vary, but armed groups often exploit the absence of state and security forces in remote areas, making recruitment easier.
Evidence shows that these areas have among the highest levels of poverty, hunger and unemployment in the country.
Nigeria’s Minister of Defence Christopher Musa has previously stated that military action accounts for only 30% of what is needed to address the country’s security crisis, with the remaining 70% dependent on good governance.
Additional sources • AP
