- The American army confirms a strike carried out at the request of Nigeria.
- The operation targets militants attacking Christians: Trump.
- The US Africa Command reports that several ISIS militants have been killed.
The United States carried out an airstrike against Daesh militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of the Nigerian government, US President Donald Trump and the US military announced Thursday, saying the group was targeting Christians in the region.
“Tonight, under my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS. [Daesh] Terrorist scum in North West Nigeria, who are brutally targeting and killing, mostly innocent Christians, at levels not seen in many years, if not centuries! Trump said in an article 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 strike comes after Trump began warning in late October that Christianity faced an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened military intervention in the West African country over what he said was its failure to end violence targeting Christian communities.
Reuters reported Monday that the United States has been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.
“More to come”
Nigeria’s foreign ministry said the strikes were carried out as part of security cooperation with the United States, involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
“This led to precise strikes on terrorist targets in Nigeria through airstrikes in the northwest,” the ministry said in an article on X.
A video released by the Pentagon shows at least one projectile launched from a warship.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thanked the Nigerian government for its support and cooperation on X and added: “More to come…”
The Nigerian government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and U.S. claims that Christians are persecuted do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religious freedom. But they agreed to work with the United States to strengthen their forces against militant groups.
The country’s population is divided between Muslims living mainly in the north and Christians in the south.
Police said Thursday that a suspected suicide bomber killed at least five people and injured 35 others in northeastern Nigeria, another region troubled by militants.
In a Christmas message published earlier on X, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for peace in his country, “especially among individuals of different religious beliefs.”
He also said: “I am committed to doing everything in my power to ensure religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims and all Nigerians from violence. »
Trump issued his statement on the strike on Christmas Day while at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he was spending the holiday. He had no public events during the day and was last seen by journalists traveling with him on Wednesday evening.
The US military launched separate large-scale strikes against dozens of ISIS targets in Syria last week, after Trump vowed to retaliate following a suspected ISIS attack on US personnel in the country.
