"The recent strikes by the United States on alleged ISIL (ISIS) targets in northwest Nigeria have been presented in Washington as a decisive counter-terror response. For the supporters of the administration of US President Donald Trump, the unprecedented operation signalled his country's renewed resolve in confronting terrorism. It is also making good on Trump's pledge to take action on what he claims is a Christian genocide in Nigeria."
"The first problem with the strikes is their lack of strategic logic. The initial strikes were launched in Sokoto in northwest Nigeria, a region that has experienced intense turmoil over the past decade. But this violence is not primarily driven by an ideological insurgency linked to ISIL, and no known ISIL-linked groups are operating in the region. Instead, security concerns in this region are rooted in banditry, the collapse of rural economies, and competition for land."
US strikes on alleged ISIL targets in northwest Nigeria have been portrayed in Washington as decisive counter-terror action and as fulfilling promises to act on claimed Christian genocide. Bombing campaigns of this nature are unlikely to improve Nigeria's security or help stabilise the conflict-racked country. The strikes risk misrepresenting the conflict and distracting from a deeper structural crisis driving violence. The operation lacked strategic logic by targeting Sokoto, where violence stems from banditry, rural economic collapse, and land competition. Armed groups there are fragmented and profit-motivated, and links to ISIL remain unestablished. Major ideological insurgencies remain in the northeast.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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