LAGOS, DEC 27: Nigeria’s information minister said Friday that the US strikes in northwest Nigeria conducted on Christmas Day used guided missiles launched from drones.
The United States announced its strikes on unspecified militants linked to Islamic State group Thursday, though information on who specifically was targeted — and the extent of each country’s involvement — remains unclear.
Nigeria is battling numerous armed conflicts, including a militant insurgency running since 2009, and its failure to rein in the violence has been criticised by Washington.
“A total of 16 GPS-guided precision munitions were deployed using MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial platforms, successfully neutralising the targeted ISIS elements attempting to penetrate Nigeria from the Sahel corridor,” Information Minister Mohammed Idris said in a statement, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.
US President Donald Trump was the first to announce the strikes, raising concern among Nigerians that their sovereignty may have come under attack.
Idris said the attack was carried out with the “full involvement of the Armed Forces of Nigeria,” with “explicit approval” from President Bola Tinubu.
Information has been slow to trickle out of the countryside in northwestern Sokoto state and neighbouring Kwara state, which the Nigerian government said late Friday was hit in the strikes.
Details in official communications between Nigeria and the United States have at times differed, possibly due to Washington apparently backing out of issuing a joint statement with Abuja, according to Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar.
“The strikes were launched from maritime platforms domiciled in the Gulf of Guinea, after extensive intelligence gathering, operational planning, and reconnaissance,” Idris added, in comments that seemed to match a video released by Washington of projectiles being launched by a navy ship bearing an American flag.
“Debris from expended munitions fell in Jabo, Tambuwal Local Government Area of Sokoto State, and in Offa, Kwara State,” Idris said, adding that no civilians were injured.
