U.S. forces strike ISIS targets in Nigeria, Trump says
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President Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
The U.S. military "launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS" in Nigeria's northwest on Christmas Day following the targeting of Christians in the West African country, President Trump announced Thursday.
The big picture: U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said on X it "conducted strikes against ISIS terrorists in Nigeria" in Sokoto State on Thursday at the direction of the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, "and in coordination with Nigerian authorities."
- Trump last month warned of possible U.S. military action in Nigeria, where there have been violent attacks against both Christians and Muslims, saying American forces may go into the country "'guns-a-blazing,' to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists."
Driving the news: Trump wrote on Truth Social he directed the strike on the "Terrorist Scum," whom he said "have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!"
- He continued: "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."
- The Department of Defense conducted "numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing," Trump added.
- "Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper. May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues."
Zoom in: Hegseth said on X he's "grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation" and his department "is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come…"
- AFRICOM deleted an earlier X post saying that it conducted a strike "at the request of Nigerian authorities."
Between the lines: PEW estimates that Muslims comprise 56.1% of Nigeria's population of over 220 million and Christians 43.4%, though the think tank notes the officially secular country's religious composition has been a subject of debate.
- Both groups have faced violence in targeted attacks across Nigeria, per a 2024 report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
- Analysts point to a complex situation, noting that while Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have launched deadly attacks across the country, many of their targets have been Muslims.
- A Nigerian government official wrote in an October Al Jazeera op-ed that while Christians had "suffered horrific attacks," a "significant portion of the violence" mischaracterized as religious persecution stems from longstanding clashes between mostly Christian farmers and largely Muslim herders over land.
- Conflicts in the country "are multi-faceted, driven by ethnic rivalries, land disputes and criminality, with religion often secondary," the official wrote.
Go deeper: Trump threatens U.S. military intervention in Nigeria
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.
