US launches strikes against Islamic State in Nigeria

BBC :

The US has launched strikes against militants linked to the Islamic State group (IS) in north-western Nigeria, where militants have sought to establish a foothold.

Camps run by the group in Sokoto state, which lies on Nigeria’s border with Niger, were hit, the US military said, adding that an “initial assessment” suggested “multiple” fatalities.
US President Donald Trump said the Christmas Day strikes were “powerful and deadly” and labelled the group “terrorist scum”, saying it had been “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”. 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” and had used intelligence information provided by Nigeria. He also did not rule out further strikes.
Referencing the timing of the strikes, he said they did not have “anything to do with Christmas, it could be any other day – it is to do with attacking terrorists who have been killing Nigerians”.
The Nigerian government has been fighting a complex network of jihadist groups, which includes Boko Haram and IS-linked splinter groups, for several years, though the expansion into the north-west is a relatively recent development.

The Trump administration has previously accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christians from jihadist attacks and has claimed a “genocide” is being perpetrated.
Trump has previously labelled Nigeria a “country of particular concern”, a designation used by the US state department that provides for sanctions against countries “engaged in severe violations of religious freedom”.
The US military was ordered to prepare to intervene in Nigeria in November.