The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has warned of new strikes against Islamic State targets in north-western Nigeria, hours after the US military took action against militant camps in what Donald Trump has characterised as efforts to stop the killing of Christians.
Hegseth wrote on X: “The president was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end. The [Pentagon] is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”
Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said on Friday that the US strikes, which came after Trump had locked the countries in a diplomatic dispute when he accused Nigeria’s government of failing to stop Christians being killed in the country, were “part of joint ongoing operations”.
Nigeria is officially secular and its population is almost evenly split between Mu
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