US launches strikes against Islamic State in Nigeria
www.bbc.com

... Camps run by the group in Sokoto state were hit near the border with Niger, the US military said. Casualty numbers are unclear, but both US and Nigerian officials say militants were killed.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar told the BBC it was a "joint operation" and had "nothing to do with a particular religion".

Tuggar said the strikes had been planned "for quite some time" using intelligence provided by Nigeria. He did not rule out further strikes.

Referring to the timing of strikes - which took place late on Thursday - he said they did not have "anything to do with Christmas". ...

It also said that during the operation debris from munitions fell in two communities " the village of Jabo, also in Sokoto state, and Offa in Kwara state, about 600km (370 miles) to the south. No civilian casualties were reported in either location.

Umar Jabo, an eyewitness in Jabo, told the BBC: "Something that looked like a plane flashed and crashed... in fields."

He said there was no issue with IS in the area: "We live peacefully, and there is no conflict between us and Christians." ...

 

Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, with about 220 million people, divided roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims.

Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and IS-linked offshoots have wrought havoc in north-eastern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands of people.

Most victims have been Muslims, according to Acled, a group that analyses political violence around the world. ...

U.S. Airstrikes in Nigeria Raise Questions Over Focus on ISIS Threat
www.hstoday.us

... Nigerian Government's Position

The Nigerian government has pushed back against characterizations that frame the country's security challenges as primarily anti-Christian persecution.

Following the U.S. designation in October, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stated that characterizing Nigeria as "religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians."

Bayo Onanuga, press secretary to President Tinubu, called Secretary of State Marco Rubio's condemnation of the "slaughter of thousands of Christians" a "gross exaggeration of the Nigerian situation," adding that "Christians, Muslims, churches and mosques are attacked randomly." ...