U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States had carried out a “powerful and deadly attack” against the Islamic State (IS) group in northwestern Nigeria.
The US leader described IS as a ‘terrorist scum’ and accused the group of ‘targeting and brutally murdering mainly innocent Christians’.
Trump said U.S. forces had “launched a number of perfect attacks,” and the U.S. Africa Command (Africom) later reported that the attacks were carried out in coordination with Nigeria in Sokoto state.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tugar told the BBC that the operation was a “joint operation” targeting “terrorists” and had “nothing to do with any particular religion.”
Tugar did not rule out further strikes, saying it depended on “the decisions of the leadership of both countries.”
“Under my leadership, our country will not allow radical Islamic terrorism to flourish,” President Trump said in a post on his Truth Social that day.
Last November, President Trump ordered U.S. troops to prepare for an operation in Nigeria to combat Islamist militants.
He did not specify at the time which killings he was referring to, but claims of genocide against Nigerian Christians have been circulating in some right-wing circles in the United States in recent months.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Thursday he was “grateful for the support and cooperation of the Nigerian government.”
“Merry Christmas!” He added, writing to
The U.S. Department of Defense later posted a short, unreleased video showing a missile being launched from a warship.
“Nigerian authorities continue to engage in structural security cooperation with international partners, including the United States, to address the ongoing threat of terrorists and violent extremism,” Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday morning.
“This resulted in airstrikes in the north-west delivering surgical strikes against terrorist targets in Nigeria,” the statement said.
Violence monitors say there is no evidence that Christians are killed more than Muslims in Nigeria. In Nigeria, followers of both religions are almost evenly distributed.
An adviser to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu told the BBC at the time that any military action against jihadist groups must be coordinated.
Daniel Bwala said Nigeria would welcome U.S. help in stamping out Islamist insurgency, but noted Nigeria was a “sovereign” country.
He also said the jihadists were not targeting any particular religion and that they had killed people of all religions or none at all.
Tinubu insisted there was religious tolerance in the country and said security issues were affecting people “beyond religions and regions.”
President Trump previously announced that he had declared Nigeria a ‘country of special concern’ due to the ‘existential threat’ to Christians. He said “thousands” had been killed, without providing any evidence.
This is the designation used by the U.S. Department of State to define sanctions against countries that “seriously violate religious freedom.”
Following the announcement, Tinubu said his government was committed to working with the United States and the international community to protect communities of all faiths.
Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa have wreaked havoc in northeastern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands of people. But most of them were Muslims, according to Acled, a group that analyzes political violence around the world.
In central Nigeria, frequent clashes occur between mostly Muslim herders and Christian farming groups over access to water and pasture.
The cycle of deadly tit-for-tat attacks has left thousands dead but also resulted in atrocities committed on both sides.
Human rights groups say there is no evidence that Christians have been disproportionately targeted.
Last week, the United States said it had carried out a “large-scale attack” against IS in Syria.
U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery “hit more than 70 targets at multiple locations across central Syria.” Aircraft from Jordan also participated.
