- US military confirms attack carried out at Nigeria’s request.
- Operation Targets Militants Attacking Christians: Trump
- US Africa Command reports that several Daesh militants have been killed.
The United States carried out an airstrike against Daesh militants in northwestern Nigeria at the request of Nigeria’s government, US President Donald Trump and the US military said on Thursday, claiming the group had targeted Christians in the region.
“Tonight, at my direction as commander in chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS [Daesh] Terrorist outposts in northwest Nigeria who have targeted and viciously killed, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen in years, and even centuries!,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The US military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto state at the request of Nigerian authorities and killed several Daesh militants.
The attack comes after Trump began warning in late October that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened to intervene militarily in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.
Reuters reported on Monday that the US had conducted reconnaissance flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.
‘More on the way’
Nigeria’s foreign ministry said the strikes were carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the United States involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
“This has led to precision strikes on terror targets in Nigeria by airstrikes in the northwest,” the ministry said in a post on X.
A video posted by the Pentagon showed at least one projectile being fired from a warship.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on X thanked the Nigerian government for its support and cooperation, adding: “More to come…”
Nigeria’s government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and US claims that Christians are being persecuted do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts to protect religious freedom. But it has agreed to work with the United States to bolster its forces against militant groups.
The country’s population is divided between Muslims, who primarily live in the north, and Christians in the south.
Police said earlier Thursday that a suspected suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 35 others in Nigeria’s northeast, another region plagued by militancy.
In a Christmas message posted on X earlier, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for peace in his country, “especially between individuals of different religious beliefs.”
He also said: “I am committed to doing everything in my power to entrench religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims and all Nigerians from violence.”
Trump issued his statement about the strike on Christmas Day while at his Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago Club, where he has been spending the holidays. He had no public events during the day and was last seen by reporters traveling with him on Wednesday evening.
The US military last week launched separate large-scale strikes against dozens of Daesh targets in Syria after Trump vowed to strike back in the wake of a suspected Daesh attack on US personnel in the country.
