President Donald Trump mentioned US forces carried out “highly effective and lethal” strikes Thursday in opposition to Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria, after he warned the group to cease killing Christians within the nation.
The Division of Protection mentioned “a number of ISIS terrorists” have been killed in an assault carried out on the request of Nigerian authorities, however few particulars have been supplied.
The strikes hit IS targets on Christmas Day, in response to Trump.
“I’ve beforehand warned these Terrorists that if they didn’t cease the slaughtering of Christians, there could be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” he mentioned in a publish on his Reality Social platform.
“Might God Bless our Navy,” he mentioned, including provocatively, “MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, together with the lifeless Terrorists, of which there will probably be many extra if their slaughter of Christians continues.”
.@POTUS “Tonight, at my route as Commander in Chief, the US launched a strong and lethal strike in opposition to ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who’ve been concentrating on and viciously killing, primarily, harmless Christians, at ranges not seen for a few years, and… pic.twitter.com/ct7rUW128t
— Division of Struggle 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) December 26, 2025
US Africa Command mentioned in an X publish that it carried out a strike “on the request of Nigerian authorities in (Sokoto state) killing a number of ISIS terrorists.”
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth additionally took to X to reward his division’s readiness to take motion in Nigeria, and mentioned he was “grateful for Nigerian authorities help & cooperation.”
The assaults mark the primary by US forces in Nigeria below Trump, and are available after the Republican chief unexpectedly berated the west African nation in October and November, saying Christians there confronted an “existential risk” that amounted to “genocide” amid Nigeria’s myriad armed conflicts.
The diplomatic offensive was welcomed by some however interpreted by others as inflaming spiritual tensions in Africa’s most populous nation, which has seen bouts of sectarian violence prior to now.
Nigeria’s authorities and impartial analysts reject framing the nation’s violence by way of spiritual persecution — a story lengthy utilized by the Christian proper in the US and Europe.
However Trump, spotlighting what his administration says is world persecution of Christians, confused that Washington was able to take army motion in Nigeria to counter such killings.
The USA this 12 months positioned Nigeria again on the record of nations of “explicit concern” relating to spiritual freedom, and has restricted the issuance of visas to Nigerians.
Nigeria is sort of evenly divided between a Muslim-majority north and largely Christian south.
Its northeast has been within the grip of jihadist violence for greater than 15 years by the Islamist Boko Haram group, which has claimed greater than 40,000 lives and displaced two million individuals.
On the identical time, massive components of the nation’s northwest, north and middle have been hit by felony gangs often known as “bandits” who assault villages, killing and kidnapping residents.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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