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

US bombs target ISIL in Nigeria: What’s really going on? Trump says northern strikes are related to ‘Christian genocide’ but attacks on Christian farmers have occurred in a different part of the country. 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. Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Trump says US launched strike against ISIL in northwest Nigeria list 2 of 4 US releases missile launch video after northwest Nigeria strike list 3 of 4 Is there a ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria? list 4 of 4 US air strikes in Nigeria “very much welcome” although late 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. “Striking on Christmas Day reinforces perceptions of a religiously motivated confrontation or a renewed religious ‘crusade’,” he said. Here’s what we know about the strikes: 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....

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