President Donald Trump has said the United States launched what he described as a “powerful and deadly strike” against Islamic State (IS) targets in north-western Nigeria, in an operation carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities.
In a post on his Truth Social platform late Thursday, Trump said the US military had “executed numerous perfect strikes” against IS militants, whom he referred to as “terrorist scum”. He accused the group of “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”, adding: “Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.”
The US Africa Command (Africom) later confirmed that the airstrikes were conducted in collaboration with Nigeria and took place in Sokoto State. Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, told the Prime Africa the operation was a “joint operation” targeting “terrorists”, stressing that it “has nothing to do with a particular religion”.
“Without naming IS specifically, Tuggar said the operation had been planned ‘for quite some time’ and was based on intelligence information provided by the Nigerian side,” according to the report. He did not rule out further strikes, noting that this would depend on “decisions to be taken by the leadership of the two countries”.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth welcomed Nigeria’s role in the operation, saying on X that he was “grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation”. He concluded his post with the message: “Merry Christmas!”
The US Department of Defense later released a short video appearing to show a missile being launched from a military vessel, though no further operational details were provided.
On Friday morning, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country “remain[s] engaged in structured security co-operation with international partners, including the United States of America, in addressing the persistent threat of terrorist and violent extremism.”
“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West,” the statement added.
Trump had earlier, in November, ordered the US military to prepare for possible action in Nigeria to confront Islamist militant groups. He has also declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over what he described as an “existential threat” to its Christian population, claiming that “thousands” had been killed, though no evidence was cited.
The designation, used by the US State Department, can trigger sanctions against countries deemed to be “engaged in severe violations of religious freedom”.
Nigeria has repeatedly rejected claims of religious persecution. Groups monitoring violence say there is no evidence that Christians are being killed more than Muslims in the country, which is roughly evenly divided between the two faiths.
An adviser to President Bola Tinubu, Daniel Bwala, previously told the BBC that Nigeria would welcome US support in tackling jihadist groups but emphasised that the country is “sovereign” and that any military action should be conducted jointly. He added that militants “were not targeting members of a particular religion” and had killed people “from all faiths, or none”.
President Tinubu has also insisted that Nigeria remains religiously tolerant, saying the country’s security challenges affect people “across faiths and regions”.
Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have carried out a violent insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), most of those killed have been Muslims.
In central Nigeria, recurring clashes between mostly Muslim herders and predominantly Christian farming communities over land and water resources have also claimed thousands of lives, with human rights groups noting that atrocities have been committed by all sides.
The strike in Nigeria comes days after the US said it had carried out what it called a “massive strike” against IS in Syria. The US Central Command (Centcom) said fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery hit more than 70 targets across central Syria, with aircraft from Jordan also involved.
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