US bombs target ISIL in Nigeria: What’s really going on?

The United States has launched “powerful and deadly” strikes against groups it claims are affiliated with ISIL (ISIS) in Nigeria, President Donald Trump said on Thursday.

The unprecedented Christmas Day strikes came after weeks of accusations from Trump and top Republicans about an alleged “Christian genocide” they say has been enabled by the Nigerian government. They represent the first known direct US military intervention in the troubled, conflict-racked country.
Neither side has shared precise information about the identity of the targets struck and the results of the strikes. Security analyst Kabir Adamu from Beacon Security and Intelligence in Abuja told Al Jazeera the likely targets are members of “Lakurawa”, an armed group linked to an offshoot of ISIL, and which has only recently become known. Its profile is still being studied by researchers.

One town which appeared to have been hit was Jabo in the northwestern Sokoto State, but no ISIL-linked cells are known to operate there. Furthermore, when Trump and other US right wingers have referred to a “Christian genocide” In Nigeria, they have usually mentioned an entirely different area in central Nigeria.

Launching the strikes on Christmas Day and on locations in northwest Nigeria, where the Sokoto Caliphate, responsible for the spread of Islam into Nigeria and revered by Nigerian muslims, is highly symbolic, analyst Femi Owolade of the UK’s Sheffield Hallam University told Al Jazeera, and plays into the Trump administration’s narrative of “saving” Nigerian Christians.
What happened?
US President Donald Trump revealed in a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday that the US had launched “numerous perfect” strikes on “ISIS positions” in northwest Nigeria.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!…”

Trump did not disclose details about which or how many targets were hit, but he added that they would continue if the alleged slaughter of Christians did not stop.

The US Africa Command said in a statement that an initial assessment of the strikes had revealed “multiple ISIS terrorists were killed in the ISIS camps”.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth thanked Nigeria for cooperating with the strikes. The (US) “is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. More to come…,” he posted on social media platform X.

In another post on X, the US Defense Department shared a video showing what appeared to be the moment a bomb was fired from a US warship in an unmarked location. Conflict analyst Murtala Abdullahi of the Goro Initiative, who tracks aerial activity in Nigeria, said it was likely that the US had launched missiles from a position in the Gulf of Guinea.

In a statement on Friday morning, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed the attacks and said they targeted elements based in the northwest of the country.

Nigerian authorities have vehemently denied allegations of a “Christian genocide”, and said the strikes had been carried out within an international cooperation framework that allows the sharing of intelligence and strategic coordination with the US and others, “consistent with international law, mutual respect for sovereignty and shared commitments to regional and global security”.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar said both parties closely cooperated on the attack and that the US Secretary of State had called him before the strikes were launched. Tuggar, however, added that Nigeria faces a complex security challenge that is also affecting other countries in the region, and that the strikes were not religion-based.

“It is a regional conflict, it is not a Nigeria Christian-Muslim conflict,” he said.
What do we know about the targets?
At least one town – Jabo in Nigeria’s northwestern Sokoto State – was confirmed to have been hit, analyst Adamu said. Photos shared on social media by residents there appear to confirm the location, with some posting what appear to be fragments of a bomb and others posting videos of a large fire on a farm. The information could not be independently verified by Al Jazeera.
“There were no casualties as of this morning,” Adamu said, adding that it’s unclear why Jabo was chosen, as there are no known ISIL-linked terror cells there.

Locals on social media also questioned why their town had been targeted.

A spokesperson for the Nigerian Foreign Ministry told Al Jazeera that the strikes had been carried out based on intelligence provided by Nigeria.

“The air strikes covered a precise area, and what people are seeing are fragments that fell in Jabo,” he said.

Is ISIL operating in Nigeria?
Yes, about six ideological armed groups exist in Nigeria, all of them linked to either ISIL (ISIS) or al-Qaeda.

They have targeted both Christian and Muslim communities in their areas of operation in the country’s predominantly Muslim northeast and northwest regions.

The strikes on Thursday likely targeted a faction called Lakurawa, which has recently emerged, and whose profile is still not fully known.

Here are some of the factions explained:

Boko Haram: The most recognised armed group is Boko Haram, which is based in Borno State, northeast Nigeria.

The group gained international notoriety for kidnapping 300 school girls from their dormitory in Chibok, Borno State, under the leadership of Ibrahim Shekau in 2014.

It was most active between 2012 and 2015. At the height of its activities, the group targeted military installations and civilians around Borno and the neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa states. It also spread across porous borders into Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Boko Haram used suicide bombing and mass kidnapping tactics against both Christian and Muslim communities, attacking churches and mosques alike. Its main hideout was the Sambisa Forest in Borno, but it also controlled large swaths of rural territory where it taxed locals and operated as a government.

At least 30,000 people died, and millions were displaced at the height of Boko Haram’s operations. The group has been largely deflated by infighting and pressure from the Nigerian military. Since 2015, it has lost much of the territory it controlled.

ISWAP: The ISIL-affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP) broke away from Boko Haram in 2016 following disagreements between top military leaders. The two groups have maintained a violent rivalry.

ISWAP is believed to have between 8,000 and 12,000 fighters, according to the United Nations. It is currently active around the Lake Chad basin area in northeast Nigeria, and has active cells in the northwest of the country.

It controls local communities, where it attempts to win support by providing basic amenities while taxing local farmers and fishermen.

Lakurawa: A newly emerged faction, the group operates in remote parts of the country’s northwest Sokoto State, including in the Tangaza, Gudu, Illela, Binji and Silame local governments. It is also present in northwest Zamfara and Kebbi states.

Jabo, which is located in Sokoto and was struck on Thursday, is known for harbouring bandits, but analysts say there’s no strong presence of Lakurawa or other ISIL cells in the town.