Neural Newscast

From Neural Newscast, I'm Claire Donovan. And I'm Marcus Shaw. Today we're tracking a major counterterrorism developments in Nigeria, involving direct U.S. military strikes. The U.S. military says it launched strikes against militants linked to the Islamic State Group in northwestern Nigeria. The targets were described as camps in Sokoto state near the border with Niger. An initial U.S. assessment indicates multiple fatalities, but there's no confirmed death toll yet. Local officials in the area told the BBC the strikes hit what they called La Kourawa camps. And they also said many fighters were killed. But they didn't give numbers. Nigeria's foreign minister, Yusuf Maitama Tougar, told the BBC it was a joint operation. and he said it had nothing to do with religion. He also said the strikes were planned for some time, and that Nigeria provided intelligence for the operation. Yeah, and that matters because the strikes happened around Christmas. President Donald Trump publicly described the operation as deadly, using harsh language for the militants, and claimed they were targeting and killing primarily innocent Christians. Tugger pushed back on that characterization. He pointed to the timing and said it did not have anything to do with Christmas, and he did not rule out further strikes in the future. there was also a separate strike reported on thursday that hit a field in a town called jabo farther south in sokoto an eyewitness told the b b c something that looked like a plane flashed and crashed in fields In that location, there were no reports of casualties. Zooming out for a second, Nigeria has fought jihadist violence for more than a decade, especially in the Northeast, where Boko Haram and Islamic State-linked factions have killed thousands. What's notable here is the northwest focus, where a smaller group has been trying to establish a foothold. And that smaller group is often referred to locally as La Kurawa. A Nigerian human rights lawyer and conflict analyst told the BBC, the group started slipping into Nigeria in 2018 and over the past roughly two years set up camps in Sokoto and neighboring Kebi State, launching attacks and imposing social rules on communities. There's also a broader dispute in U.S. politics about how to describe religious violence in Nigeria. The Trump administration has previously accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians and has claimed a genocide is being perpetrated. Nigeria's leaders, meanwhile, have emphasized that militants have targeted people across faiths. Right. And conflict data cited by the BBC notes that many victims of jihadist violence in Nigeria have been Muslims. That doesn't minimize attacks on Christian communities, but it complicates any simple story about who's being targeted and why. The Pentagon also posted a short video that appeared to show a missile launch from a military vessel. And U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseff said he was grateful for Nigerian government support and cooperation. One more piece of context here. This is the second major U.S. intervention targeting Islamic State in recent weeks. The U.S. also said it carried out a large strike against IS in Syria, involving dozens of targets alongside regional partners. So what to watch next is whether Nigeria confirms more details about casualties and targets. and whether further joint operations expand in the Northwest, where communities say the threat has been growing. That's the update for now. If you want more stories where policy, security, and technology intersect, make sure you're following Neural Newscast. Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed. View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com.