Nigerian official refuses to rule out AMERICAN troops on the ground after working with Trump to bomb ISIS
SOURCE:Daily Mail
American troops may be deployed to Nigeria following President Trump's bombing of ISIS targets in the nation, a Nigerian official said.
American troops may be deployed on the ground after the US's bombing of ISIStargets, a Nigerian official has suggested.
The foreign affairs minister said his government had not ruled out working with US servicemen, something Donald Trump has suggested in recent weeks.
Yusuf Tuggar said the issue would be something for the Nigerian government to 'consider', when asked by CNN about Trump's threats to send in the US military 'guns-a-blazing' this week.
On Thursday the Pentagon said the Nigerian government approved the strikes and collaborated with the US military to carry them out.
Tuggar rejected the framing of the conflict as a religious one, and said the action 'would show clearly that it is a strike against terrorism... and that it is not to do with religion, is to do with protecting Nigerians and innocent lives.'
'When you try to reduce it to just say, 'Oh, no, it's Muslims killing Christians in Nigeria,' you see how you can get it completely wrong. It's a regional conflict,' he told Nigerian broadcaster Channels Television on Friday.
Nigerian officials have not elaborated on the possibility of accepting US troops on the ground or of other strikes in the near future, and Tuggar said only that it would be considered following Trump's suggestion he could send in troops 'guns-a-blazing.'
Donald Trump announced a 'powerful and deadly' Christmas Day strike on ISIS 'terrorist scum' in Nigeria and warned that radicals will continue to pay for the persecution of Christians
A video posted by the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launched from a warship. A US defense official said the strike targeted multiple militants at known ISIS camps
The President, who previously threatened to send the US military to the West African nation 'guns-a-blazing,' made the announcement in a Truth Social post Thursday evening.
Nigeria's foreign ministry said the strikes were carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the United States, involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has also said that the country 'welcomes' the American help.
But there is a sense the government publicly cooperated with the US to avert humiliating unilateral military action threatened a month ago by Trump.
The strikes divided opinions in Congress, as Democrat Representative Debbie Dingell said Congress received 'very little' information on Trump's move.
Dingell described the lack of information sharing from the White House as a 'continuing pattern,' and said she believes it is Congress that 'needs to be making a lot of these decisions about escalating.'
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Should the US get more involved militarily in Nigeria, or is this crossing a dangerous line?
Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has said that the country 'welcomes' the US help
Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton, who has been a top defender of Trump's strikes on Venezuelan drug boats, praised the actions in Nigeria.
'I commend President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and our brave troops for these strikes against bloodthirsty ISIS savages who are not only persecuting Christians, but also have killed many Americans,' Cotton, a former army officer who is chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, wrote on X.
Nebraska Republican Congressman Don Bacon celebrated US strikes on ISIS as well, calling the military action 'right' despite criticizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's attacks on Venezuela earlier this month.
Brad Brandon, chief executive of Across Nigeria, exclusively told the Daily Mail that 'members of Congress criticizing the President's counterterrorism actions in Nigeria demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation on the ground,' and that 'their hostility toward President Trump has clouded objective judgment.'
'There is no doubt that this action was fully justified and that the use of US military capabilities disrupted ISIS's ability to continue massacring innocent civilians,' Brandon added.
A US defense official said the strikes hit multiple militants at known ISIS camps.
Trump said in his lengthy post that the targets have had it coming for some time.
'I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.'
'The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing. Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper,' Trump added.
Nigeria has been roiled by internal violence in the wake of a jihadist insurgency spearheaded by extremist group Boko Haram in the northeast since 2009
The President signed off with a warning for the terrorists that they will continue to pay if the murder of innocent Christians goes on.
'May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.'
The President's post did not include information about how the strike was carried out and what effects it had. The White House did not immediately provide further details.
Hegseth affirmed the president's message in a social media post of his own.
He wrote: 'The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end.
'The Department of War is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come… Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!'
The northwestern area where Thursday's airstrikes took place has been plagued since 2024 by increasing violence from members of the Lakurawa sect, a strict Sunni Islamist movement that claims affiliation with the Islamic State group.
Formed as a vigilante outfit, the group evolved into a jihadist movement enforcing strict Islamist rule across hundreds of villages in the area. Nigeria declared the group a terrorist organization early this year.
'It's very likely this is the group Trump referred to when mentioning U.S. military strikes in Nigeria,' said Confidence MacHarry, senior analyst at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence. 'They've also been linked to widespread cattle theft, with most of the stolen animals ending up in markets along the Nigeria-Niger border.'