Donald Trump announced that the US military had carried out deadly strikes against militants of the terrorist militia “Islamic State“ (IS) in Nigeria. On his social platform Truth Social, he wrote that the action in the northwestern part of the country was in response to the group's previous killings of Christians.
The number of dead was not reported, but Trump threatened to continue killing terrorists if more Christians were killed. In capital letters, he wrote: “Merry Christmas to all, including the terrorists killed“.
The military strike was carried out at the request of the Nigerian authorities, the US military command for Africa - United States Africa Command (Africom) announced on the X platform. According to the information, the operation in Sokoto state killed “Islamic State “ fighters, without specifying their number.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsett wrote on the X platform that the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria and elsewhere must stop. He thanked the Nigerian government for its support and cooperation.
Trump threatened military strikes weeks ago. In early November, he cited the fact that Islamist terrorists were killing Christians there as the reason for this. Trump explicitly addressed the Nigerian government and warned that if it allows further bloodshed, the US will immediately stop all aid and intervene itself, ARD recalls.
NGO: “Nigeria is the most dangerous country for Christians“
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government also confirmed the American attack. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “precision strikes on terrorist targets“ were carried out in the northwestern part of the country and specified that such operations are part of ongoing cooperation with the US in the field of security. In a Christmas message, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for peace and promised to protect religious freedom and "protect Christians, Muslims and all Nigerians from violence."
Nigeria is a country of over 220 million people - Muslims concentrated in the north of the country and Christians in the south. The Christian community feels inadequately protected by the authorities in the country, where conflicts and violence are increasingly growing for religious reasons.
The American non-governmental organization "International Christian Concern", which documents the persecution of Christians around the world, identified Nigeria in 2022 as the "most dangerous country in the world for Christians."
This is not the first time the US military has attacked Islamist terrorists in Africa. Back in 2024, i.e. Before Trump took office, and also this year, the US military repeatedly bombed ISIS positions in Somalia. Some of the attacks were also directed against the terrorist militia "Al-Shabab", which is part of the "Al-Qaeda" network and an enemy of ISIS.