Nigerians across Sokoto State awoke to loud blasts on Thursday night, fearing their village was under attack by one of the many armed groups that plague northwest Nigeria.
In reality, the explosions were strikes by the United States, part of a Christmas Day bombardment targeting militants in several locations.
AFP reached three villagers by phone in the Sokoto countryside. The attack came as a surprise to some around Jabo town, who noted that while their area had occasionally been targeted by armed “bandit” gangs and jihadists, it was not a stronghold for these groups.
“We heard a loud explosion which shook the whole town and everyone was scared,” said Haruna Kallah from Jabo, located about 100 kilometres south of Sokoto city near the Niger border.
Nigeria and the US have been locked in a dispute over what President Donald Trump has characterised as the mass killing of Christians amid the country’s armed conflicts. However, the Nigerian government and independent analysts reject Washington’s framing, pointing out that the West African nation faces intertwined security crises that affect both Christian and Muslim civilians.
“We initially thought it was an attack by Lakurawa,” the main jihadist group in Sokoto State, Kallah explained. Learning that it was a US attack “surprised us because this area has never been a Lakurawa enclave and we have never had any attacks in the last two years.”
He mentioned that some locals gathered the courage to explore a field outside Barkini village on the outskirts of the town, where they discovered burning fragments from the bombardment.
The US reported that it had struck militants linked to the Islamic State but did not specify which of Nigeria’s multiple and well-documented groups were targeted.
Ayuba Abdulkarim, another resident of Jabo, stated: “There was a huge explosion and everyone was terrified and thought the town was under attack from Lakurawa. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but fragments from the bomb caused damage to walls and roofs of nearby homes.”
Tukur Shehu, a resident of Tangaza, a neighbouring district, noted that two strikes targeted Warriya and Alkassim villages—areas known to house Lakurawa camps, from which they launch attacks and hold hostages.
US special forces previously conducted a successful operation in Tangaza district in October 2020, rescuing Philip Walton, a US citizen who had been kidnapped from his home in southern Niger.
Credit: AFP
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