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Susan NJANJI and Tonye BAKARE, with Nicholas ROLL in Abuja and Aminu ABUBAKAR in Kano

Nigeria on Friday signalled that more strikes against jihadist groups were expected after a Christmas Day bombardment by US forces against militants in the north of the country, which it said was a joint operation with its military.

The west African country faces multiple interlinked security crises, with jihadists waging an insurgency in the northeast since 2009 and armed "bandit" gangs raiding villages and staging kidnappings in the northwest.

The strikes came after Abuja and Washington were locked in a diplomatic dispute over what US President Donald Trump has characterised as the mass killing of Christians amid Nigeria's myriad armed conflicts.

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A Pentagon official told AFP that "the Department of War worked with the government of Nigeria to carry out these strikes" and that they "were approved by the government of Nigeria", without saying whether Nigeria's military had been involved.

US defence officials later posted a video of what appeared to be a nighttime missile launch from the deck of a battleship flying the US flag.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's military said in a statement that its forces, "in conjunction with the United States", had conducted "precision strike operations".

Both countries said the strikes targeted militants linked to the Islamic State group, without providing details.

Washington's framing of the violence in Nigeria as amounting to Christian "persecution" is rejected by the Nigerian government and independent analysts, but has nonetheless resulted in increased security coordination.

"It's Nigeria that provided the intelligence," the country's foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, told broadcaster Channels TV, saying he was on the phone with US State Secretary Marco Rubio ahead of the bombardment.

Asked if there would be more strikes, Tuggar said: "It is an ongoing thing, and we are working with the US. We are working with other countries as well."