{"id":108960,"date":"2025-12-29T06:56:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T06:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=108960"},"modified":"2025-12-29T06:56:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T06:56:44","slug":"fear-and-confusion-in-nigerian-village-hit-in-us-strike-as-locals-say-no-history-of-isis-in-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=108960","title":{"rendered":"Fear and confusion in Nigerian village hit in US strike, as locals say no history of ISIS in area"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A day after part of a missile\u00a0fired by the United States\u00a0hit their village, landing just meters from its only medical facility, the people of Jabo in northwestern Nigeria are in a state of shock and confusion.<\/p>\n

Suleiman Kagara, a resident of this quiet and predominantly Muslim farming community in Tambuwal district of Sokoto state, told CNN he heard a loud blast and saw flames as a projectile flew overhead at around 10 p.m. on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Soon after, it came crashing down, exploding on impact with the ground and sending the villagers fleeing in fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t sleep last night,\u201d Kagara said. \u201cWe\u2019ve never seen anything like this before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kagara did not realize it at the time, but what he was witnessing was part of a US strike that President Donald Trump would later refer to as a \u201cChristmas present\u201d for terrorists.<\/p>\n

Not long after the impact in Jabo, Trump declared on Thursday that the US had carried out a \u201cpowerful and deadly strike\u201d against ISIS militants in the region, who he accused of \u201ctargeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even centuries!\u201d<\/p>\n

According to US Africa Command, the operation neutralized multiple ISIS militants.<\/p>\n

But Trump\u2019s explanation has left Kagara and his fellow villagers scratching their heads.<\/p>\n

While parts of Sokoto face challenges with banditry, kidnappings and attacks by armed groups, including Lakurawa \u2013 which Nigeria classifies as a terrorist organization due to\u00a0suspected affiliations\u00a0with Islamic State \u2013 villagers say Jabo is not known for terrorist activity and that local Christians coexist peacefully with the Muslim majority.<\/p>\n

\"Fear
A Nigerian police bomb squad inspects the site of the airstrike in Jabo.\u00a0
Tunde Omolehin\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn Jabo, we see Christians as our brothers. We don\u2019t have religious conflicts, so we weren\u2019t expecting this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bashar Isah Jabo, a lawmaker representing Tambuwal in the state parliament, described the village to CNN as \u201ca peaceful community\u201d that has \u201cno known history of ISIS, Lakurawa, or any other terrorist groups operating in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the projectile had struck a field \u201capproximately 500 meters\u201d from a Primary Health Center in Jabo and that, while there were no casualties, the incident had \u201ccaused fear and panic within the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s Information Ministry later\u00a0said\u00a0that the government, in collaboration with the US, had \u201csuccessfully conducted precision strike operations\u201d targeting ISIS hideouts in the forests of Tangaza district in Sokoto.<\/p>\n

However, it also noted that \u201cduring the course of the operation, debris from expended munitions fell in Jabo,\u201d and another area in north-central Kwara state \u2013 though it stressed there had been no civilian casualties.<\/p>\n

The operation in Nigeria follows repeated claims by Trump of a significant threat to Christians in the country, with the president ordering the Pentagon last month to prepare for possible military action.<\/p>\n

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told CNN Friday that he had spoken with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio prior to the strike and that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu had given the \u201cgo ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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