The US military has reportedly submitted contingency plans for potential strikes on Nigeria, following a directive from President Donald Trump to prepare for possible military action over the claim of Christian genocide.
According to The New York Times, the US Africa Command has drawn up and sent its options to the Department of War this week upon the request of Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Read the full report below
First, the self-evident: Despite President Trump’s order that the Pentagon prepare to intervene militarily in Nigeria to protect Christians from attack by Islamic militants, U.S. forces are unlikely to be able to end a decades-long insurgency that has claimed lives across sectarian lines in Africa’s most populous country, military officials say.
The American military cannot do much to quell the violence unless it is willing to start an Iraq- or Afghanistan-style campaign, the officials said. But they added there were some steps available to American war planners that could have limited impact on the militants.
The Air Force could conduct airstrikes on the few known compounds in northern Nigeria inhabited by militant groups, officials said. American drones like the MQ-9 Reaper and the MQ-1 Predator could attack a few vehicles and even a handful of convoys. And American forces could team up with Nigerian soldiers to raid villages to root out insurgents who have ensconced themselves in rural hamlets in the country’s north.
These were all part of the options that officials with United States Africa Command drew up this week, defense officials say, to forward to the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. They generated the plans after Mr. Trump’s announcement over the weekend threatening military action to stop what he described as attacks on “CHERISHED Christians” but in reality is a campaign of violence and land disputes that have killed thousands of Muslims and Christians alike.
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