President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that the United States conducted strikes against ISIS targets on Christmas Day, following months of warnings from his Administration regarding attacks on Christians in the West African nation.
In a post on Truth Social, he stated, “The United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries.” He added, “I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.”
According to reports citing an unnamed military official, more than a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from a Navy vessel, striking two insurgent camps in northwestern Sokoto State, Nigeria. Shortly after Trump’s announcement, the Defense Department released a nine-second video appearing to show missiles being fired from the military ship.
U.S. Africa Command stated that it had assessed “multiple” ISIS targets were killed, though it did not offer additional specifics. “U.S. Africa Command is working with Nigerian and regional partners to increase counterterrorism cooperation efforts related to on-going violence and threats against innocent lives,” said General Dagvin Anderson, commander of U.S. Africa Command, in the statement.
Abubakar Sani, a resident living near the strike location, told the Associated Press, “As it approached our area, the heat became intense. Our rooms began to shake, and then fire broke out. The Nigerian government should take appropriate measures to protect us as citizens. We have never experienced anything like this before.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cautioned that additional U.S. military operations in the region might occur. He also expressed gratitude for the “cooperation” and “support” from the Nigerian government, whose intelligence contributed to the U.S. strikes.
Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar informed local media that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken with him prior to the strike, and that President Bola Tinubu had provided “the go-ahead.”
The strike comes after weeks of intensifying rhetoric from Trump, who has depicted violence in Nigeria as motivated by anti-Christian persecution. In early November, Trump instructed the Defense Department to prepare for action in Nigeria, declaring he would send troops “guns-a-blazing” if “the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians,” shortly after threatening potential sanctions and aid withdrawal from the nation of over 230 million people.
At that time, President Tinubu rejected any portrayal of Nigeria as religiously intolerant, contending that it “does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians.”
that while Nigeria continues to face insurgencies from jihadist groups, such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State, the majority of victims from these groups have been Muslim–despite Trump’s characterization of the strikes.
