Nigeria latest: US warns 'more to come' after claiming strikes on IS targets

It's been a busy week on the world stage for Donald Trump, and perhaps not in ways his supporters envisaged less than a year into his second term.

Overnight strikes in Nigeria were launched after a similar operation in Syria, while tensions with Venezuela continue to rise.

In less than 45 seconds, our Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir breaks down the issue he may face domestically as a result of these strikes in Nigeria.

To put these developments into some more context, let's go back to Donald Trump's remarks last month.

In early November, he said the US military "could be" deployed to Nigeria to stop what he described as the mass killing of Christians.

That came after he said Christianity is "facing an existential threat" in the country.

Senator Ted Cruz, a high-profile Republican, took it further, claiming Nigerian officials are allowing a "Christian genocide".

As we've outlined already, analysts actually say Muslims have been dying in greater numbers as the country grapples with militant groups.

We spoke to Nigeria's information and national orientation minister Mohammed Idris in the days after those comments from the US.

Speaking on The World with Yalda Hakim, he said the country does have "religious issues" - but people are being killed in mosques as well as churches.

Watch his interview back in the video below...

Nigeria coordinated with the US during its strikes in the northwest overnight.

As we've already outlined, the country's military is stretched in its battle against multiple armed groups (see 7.39).

The result of that is a security crisis that has killed Christians as well as Muslims.

But with Donald Trump's team solely highlighting Christian suffering, our Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir says the Nigerian government is in a tough spot.

"I think the Nigerian government is in a very difficult position," she says.

"It may be welcoming this coordination with the US and trying to get ahead of their terrorism problem - their ISIS problem... that they've suffered from for many years - but still not wanting to kind of confirm these claims that Christians in Nigeria are persecuted more than any other religious group."

Muslim communities, she points out, have been targeted as "violently and viciously" as their Christian neighbours have been.

"So, I think it's a difficult time, where these strikes are obviously going to be loudly celebrated by the Trump administration, where Nigerian authorities want to increase coordination, cooperation," Elbagir adds.

"But, also, they don't want to confirm or give any credibility to claims of a Christian genocide that are simply not true."

The US has not said exactly which group it targeted overnight, with Donald Trump only saying they went after "ISIS terrorist scum".

But security analysts have posited the likely target was members of Lakurawa.

This group is prominent in the northwest, where the strikes happened.

Multiple analysts say Lakurawa has been active there since around 2017, when it was invited by traditional authorities in Sokoto state to protect their communities from bandits.

According to James Barnett, an Africa researcher with the Washington-based Hudson Institute, the militants "overstayed their welcome, clashing with some of the community leaders... and enforcing a harsh interpretation of sharia law that alienated much of the rural population".

Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher with Good Governance Africa, said communities now "openly say that Lakurawa are more oppressive and dangerous than the bandits they claim to protect them from". 

He added Lakurawa controls territories in Sokoto and Kebbi states, and has become known for killings, kidnapping, rape and armed robbery.

While Washington's overnight attack on IS targets in Nigeria are, it said, a defence of Christians in the country, Muslims have suffered a security crisis as well.

Just two days ago, at least five worshippers were killed and 35 others injured when a suspected suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's Borno state, in the northeast.

Police said it happened during evening prayers, while no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Islamist insurgents Boko Haram and its ISWAP faction (see 7.39 for more on them) have waged a 15-year campaign of violence targeting civilians, mosques and markets in the northeast.

Witnesses at al Adum mosque described scenes of panic as victims were rushed to hospital.

Last August, gunmen attacked a mosque and nearby homes in the northwestern state of Katsina, killing at least 50, according to local officials and residents.

For context: Nigeria is a country of more than 200 million people, which is divided between the largely Muslim north and mostly Christian south.

An Islamist insurgency has dragged on for over 15 years and is largely confined to the northeast of the country, which is majority Muslim.

While Christians have been killed, most of the victims have been Muslims, analysts say.

The US said its attacks targeted IS militants in the northwest, in a state called Sokoto.

This is where - as we outlined at 7.39 - the IS-affiliated Lakurawa operates.

Pete Hegseth was quick to post on social media after the strikes.

"The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end," he wrote on social media.

While Washington has often expressed concern over the safety of Christians in the country, analysts have said Muslims have also suffered in Nigeria's security crisis.

"The Department of War is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight - on Christmas," he added, referring to the government body he heads, formerly known as the Department of Defence.

He then wrote: "More to come…"

US airstrikes targeted so-called Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria overnight, in the state of Sokoto.

Nigeria, whose overstretched military is battling multiple armed groups, said the US operation was part of an exchange of intel between the two countries.

Washington has not said which group was targeted - only that they hit militants who predominantly attack Christians (though analysts say many Muslims are also killed in the country).

Armed groups in Nigeria include at least two affiliated with IS.

These are:

• an offshoot of the Boko Haram extremist group known as the Islamic State West Africa Province in the northeast;
• and the lesser-known Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), with a group known as Lakurawa also prominent in the northwest.

Security analysts say the target - if indeed Islamic State militants - was likely members of Lakurawa.

This group has become more lethal in border states such as Sokoto in the past year, often targeting remote communities and security forces.

As part of ongoing "security cooperation", Nigeria said it gave the greenlight for a US attack in the northwest.

Donald Trump, posting on social media, said "powerful and deadly" strikes were executed against so-called Islamic State militants.

Underpinning Washington's drive for these strikes, the president said the group has been "targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians".

That's a view Trump has shared repeatedly, claiming last month Christians face an "existential threat" in the West African nation.

Security analysts, however, have said Nigeria's security crisis affects both Christians and Muslims.

In any case, the US has warned it won't waver from its current course - with Trump's secretary for war adding: "More to come."

Stay with us as for the latest.