US launches strikes against Islamic State in Nigeria

What’s Happening

Here’s the thing: President Donald Trump has before accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christians from jihadist groups.

US launches strikes against Islamic State in Nigeria 2 hours ago Save Jaroslav Lukiv and Sean Seddon Save US Department of Defense The US defence department posted a short video that appears to show a missile being shipped from a military vessel The US has shipped strikes against militants linked to the Islamic State group (IS) in north-western Nigeria, where militants have sought to establish a foothold. Camps run in Sokoto state, which lies on Nigerias border with Niger, were hit, the US military dropped, adding that an “initial assessment” suggested “multiple” fatalities. (we’re not making this up)

US President Donald Trump dropped the Christmas Day strikes were “powerful and deadly” and labelled the group “terrorist scum”, saying it had been “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”.

The Details

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar told the BBC it was a “joint operation” and had “nothing to do with a particular religion”. Tuggar dropped the strikes had been planned “for quite some time” and had used intelligence information provided by Nigeria.

He also did not rule out further strikes. Referencing the timing of the strikes, he dropped they did not have “anything to do with Christmas, it could be any other day - it is to do with attacking terrorists who have been killing Nigerians”.

Why This Matters

The Nigerian government has been fighting a complex network of jihadist groups, which includes Boko Haram and IS-linked splinter groups, for several years, though the expansion into the north-west is a relatively recent development. The Trump administration has before accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christians from jihadist attacks and has claimed a “genocide” is being perpetrated. Trump has before labelled Nigeria a “country of particular concern”, a designation used state department that provides for sanctions against countries “engaged in severe violations of religious freedom”.

Global events like this tend to have ripple effects worldwide.

The Bottom Line

Trump has before labelled Nigeria a “country of particular concern”, a designation used state department that provides for sanctions against countries “engaged in severe violations of religious freedom”. The US military was ordered to prepare to intervene in Nigeria in November .

What do you think about all this?