US air raids on ISIS in Nigeria: Turner’s bold defense and the storm it unleashed

Washington wakes up to a new front in the ISIS fight

It was still dark on Capitol Hill when Rep. Mike Turner strode into the studio lights of the Sunday talk shows, coffee in hand, and calmly confirmed what only murmurs had hinted at for weeks: American warplanes had struck ISIS camps inside Nigeria.

‘We took the shot because the threat was real and imminent,’ Turner told NBC’s Meet the Press. ‘If we wait, Americans die.’

A secret campaign no longer

Until that moment, the Pentagon had only acknowledged ‘advisory’ missions in West Africa. Now, satellite images—first published by the AP—show craters scarring the Mandara Mountains near the Cameroon border, and local herders describe drones ‘humming like bees’ overhead the night three encampments were obliterated.

The Nigerian government, facing elections in eight months, quietly requested the strikes after a March ambush killed 23 Nigerian soldiers and revealed encrypted chatter about ‘external operations’ against U.S. embassies in the region.

Turner’s gamble

Back in D.C., the Ohio Republican chairs the House Intelligence Committee. Privately, some colleagues call his media blitz ‘a pre-emptive strike on the backlash.’ Publicly, he is unapologetic.

• He argues the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force covers ISIS anywhere it metastasizes.
• He cites classified intel showing Nigerian ISIS—an offshoot of Boko Haram—plotting to down civilian aircraft.
• He demands a bipartisan briefing this week, warning that ‘isolationism is a luxury we can’t afford.’

Fire from both sides

Progressives pounced. ‘Another endless war without congressional approval,’ Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted within minutes. Senator Rand Paul called for an immediate repeal of the AUMF, labeling the strikes ‘a constitutional stretch.’

Meanwhile, hawks want more. Sen. Lindsey Graham wants a carrier strike group parked in the Gulf of Guinea and Special Forces ‘hunting every night.’

Does it work?

Independent analysts are split. The Soufan Center notes ISIS-West Africa’s territory has shrunk 18 % since January, but its propaganda output is surging. ‘Drones make great martyrs,’ one jihadi channel posted within hours of the strikes.

Local voices matter most. Maiduguri market trader Aisha Bukar, 41, heard the explosions from 30 miles away. ‘We cheered, then we asked: will they stay and help us rebuild, or is this just another boom-and-leave?’

What happens next

The White House promises a ‘full readout’ to the Gang of Eight this week. Behind the scenes, State Department negotiators are pressing Abuja for a status-of-forces agreement that would legalize longer-term U.S. footprints—something Nigerian lawmakers have rejected twice since 2018.

Turner, for his part, is already looking past Nigeria. ‘ISIS is franchising faster than Starbucks,’ he told donors last night. ‘If we don’t set the precedent now, we’ll be chasing shadows from Mali to Mozambique.’

Whether Congress will bless that precedent—or slam the brakes—will dominate the headlines long after the smoke over the Mandara hills clears.