US President Donald Trump said the United States had struck a “death blow“ against Islamic State terrorists in northwest Nigeria.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander-in-Chief, the United States struck a powerful and deadly blow against IS terrorists in northwest Nigeria, who are carrying out a long and brutal killing spree, mostly of innocent Christians, on a scale not seen in years, if not centuries“, he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
US Africa Command confirmed that US forces had struck terrorist targets in the country. According to Reuters, the attack took place in Sokoto state. As a result “several terrorists“ were killed.
The Pentagon statement initially said the operation was carried out at the request of the Nigerian government. However, this information was later removed from the agency's statement.
The Nigerian authorities themselves confirmed that the strikes were carried out to “counteract the threat of terrorism“.
Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth announced new actions against terrorists.
“The president made it clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria and elsewhere must stop. The Department of Defense is always ready, and ISIS learned this this "Christmas Eve. More to come," War Secretary X wrote on social media.
In November, Trump did not rule out sending troops to Nigeria or launching airstrikes in the country to combat terrorists against whom "the government has no defense."
In October, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz accused the Nigerian government of tolerating the killings of Christians, claiming that Islamist groups in Nigeria had killed 50,000 Christians since 2009.
The Nigerian presidential office responded to Trump's remarks by noting that fewer than 1,800 Nigerians died at the hands of terrorists in 2025, a fifth of the number killed in 2015.