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President Trump introduced Thursday that the U.S. launched army strikes in opposition to ISIS forces in Nigeria, alleging the group has been focusing on Christians.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
On Christmas Day, the president introduced the U.S. army struck ISIS militants in Nigeria. The assaults come a month after President Trump threatened on social media to enter Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, quote, “weapons a-blazing” except it did extra to guard Christians, who he regularly asserts are being focused and slaughtered. Nigerian authorities say allegations of Christian genocide are unfounded and {that a} mishmash of violent armed teams throughout the nation kill as many Muslims as Christians within the nation. Becoming a member of us now from Nigeria is NPR Africa correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu. Good morning.
EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: Emmanuel, this appears like these strikes form of got here out of nowhere. What are you able to inform us about them?
AKINWOTU: Effectively, in a submit on Fact Social, President Trump stated he ordered, quote, a “lethal strike in opposition to ISIS terrorist scum in northwest Nigeria who’ve been focusing on and viciously killing primarily harmless Christians.” And he stated that this was just the start. And the U.S. Africa Command, who’re accountable for army operations on the continent – they put it in a different way. In a press release, they stated initially the strikes had been requested by the Nigerian authorities. After which they amended that assertion to say it was accomplished in coordination with them. However in any case, that is clearly a very important intervention and an inflection level in U.S. army involvement in Nigeria. And it additionally comes with the non secular symbolism of launching these strikes on Christmas Day.
FADEL: OK. So the U.S. hasn’t actually launched many particulars in regards to the strikes. What are you able to inform us about who they had been focusing on?
AKINWOTU: Effectively, the U.S. strikes focused ISIS militants in northwest Nigeria alongside the border with Niger. And it is a area the place a faction known as IS Sahel Province is energetic. They’re identified regionally as Lukarawa. They usually’ve unfold south from the Sahel area in West Africa, and actually, they have been a rising menace during the last eight years. And broadly, ISIS has change into a serious concern in Nigeria. They’ve change into a form of governing drive in rural areas, attacking and imposing this excessive model of Islam. They usually’re one actor amongst a number of militant teams at giant, they usually’re all behind, actually, a worsening safety disaster within the nation.
However what’s inquisitive about that is that President Trump says this ISIS group has focused Christians. However in response to most consultants, this group isn’t one of many foremost teams accused of killing Christians. And in reality, the largest safety menace within the area are militants often known as bandits, who’ve terrorized native communities made up of Christians and Muslims. However zooming out, a couple of key questions actually are whether or not these strikes are about defending Christians, as President Trump says, or actually about degrading ISIS within the area. And consultants I’ve spoken to query whether or not airstrikes may even obtain that in a area the place armed teams are so deeply entrenched in rural areas and tough to get rid of from the air.
FADEL: How has the Nigerian authorities responded to this army operation and, extra typically, to this rising stress from President Trump?
AKINWOTU: Effectively, the federal government have been actually eager to reframe the best way that that is being seen, calling it a joint operation that they authorized. However the problem for the federal government is that this isn’t actually the impression many individuals will take from President Trump’s submit, which introduced the assaults hours earlier than any assertion from Nigerian authorities officers. And there are already critics in Nigeria reacting to this who’re involved about whether or not that is now a brand new army entrance for the U.S. going ahead, and whether or not Nigeria’s sturdy sufficient to form or curtail U.S. goals within the nation.
FADEL: That is Emmanuel Akinwotu reporting from Lagos. Thanks a lot for becoming a member of us.
AKINWOTU: Thanks, Leila.
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