ABUJA, Nigeria — Recent airstrikes by the United States targeting Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria signal a significant intensification in a conflict that has long challenged Nigeria’s military forces.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on social media that the “powerful and deadly” strikes in Sokoto state were aimed at Islamic State militants who have been “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.” However, residents and security experts noted that Nigeria’s security crisis affects both Christians, mainly in the south, and Muslims, who form the majority in the north.

In response to the situation, Nigeria, which is contending with multiple armed groups, acknowledged that the U.S. airstrikes were part of a broader intelligence-sharing and strategic partnership between the two nations.

The impact of the airstrikes remains unverified by the Associated Press. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hinted at future actions, stating in a post on X, “More to come…”

The militants targeted by US airstrikes

Africa’s most populous nation is home to numerous armed groups, including two factions linked to the Islamic State. These include the Islamic State West Africa Province, an offshoot of Boko Haram active in the northeast, and the lesser-known Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), locally referred to as Lakurawa, operating predominantly in the northwest.

Although officials did not say exactly which group was targeted, security analysts said the target, if indeed against Islamic State militants, was likely members of Lakurawa, which became more lethal in border states like Sokoto and Kebbi in the last year, often targeting remote communities and security forces.

The Nigerian military has said in the past that the group has roots in neighboring Niger and that it became more active in Nigeria’s border communities following a 2023 military coup. That coup resulted in fractured relations between Nigeria and Niger, and affected their multinational military operations along the porous border.

Militants invited to provide security now torment villages

Multiple analysts have said Lakurawa has been active in northwest Nigeria since around 2017 when it was invited by traditional authorities in Sokoto to protect their communities from bandit groups.

The militants, however, “overstayed their welcome, clashing with some of the community leaders … and enforcing a harsh interpretation of sharia law that alienated much of the rural population,” according to James Barnett, an Africa researcher with the Washington-based Hudson Institute.

“Communities now openly say that Lakurawa are more oppressive and dangerous than the bandits they claim to protect them from,” according to Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher with Good Governance Africa.

Lakurawa controls territories in Sokoto and Kebbi states, and has become known for killings, kidnapping, rape and armed robbery, Samuel said.

But some of the attacks blamed on Lakurawa are by the Islamic State Sahel Province, which has expanded from Niger’s Dosso region to northwestern Nigeria, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

“ISSP has maintained a low profile, operating covertly to infiltrate and entrench itself along the Niger-Nigeria border, and is now also expanding its operations toward the Beninese border,” the project said in a recent report.

Nigeria’s insecurity is deep-rooted in social issues

The security woes are more of a governance problem than a military one.

Motives for attacks differ but the gangs are often driven by the near absence of a state and security presence in conflict hot spots, making recruitment easy. Those hot spots, data show, have some of the country’s highest levels of poverty, hunger and lack of jobs.

Nigeria’s Minister of Defense Christopher Musa once said in his past capacity as the defense chief that military action is only 30% of what is needed to fix the country’s security crisis, while the remaining 70% depends on good governance.

“The absence of the state in remote communities is making it easy for non-state actors to come in and present themselves to the people as the best alternative government,” said Samuel.

US strikes seen as crucial support for Nigeria’s military

Thursday’s U.S. strikes were seen as crucial help for Nigeria’s security forces, which are often overstretched and outgunned as they fight multiple security crises across different regions.

In states like Sokoto, the military often carries out airstrikes targeting militant hideouts and Nigeria has embarked on mass recruitment of security forces.

But analysts say military operations targeting the gangs are not usually sustained and the militants easily move on motorcycles to new locations through vast forests that connect several states in the north.

They also often use hostages – including schoolchildren – as cover, making airstrikes difficult.