United States President Donald Trump said American forces carried out “powerful and deadly” strikes against Islamic State fighters in northwestern Nigeria on Thursday, following his warning to the group to halt the killing of Christians in the country.
The Department of Defense confirmed that “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed in the operation, which it said was carried out at the request of Nigerian authorities, though it offered limited details.
According to Trump, the strikes targeted IS positions on Christmas Day.
“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,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“May God Bless our Military,” he added, saying, “MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.”
The US Africa Command also said on X that it conducted a strike “at the request of Nigerian authorities in (Sokoto state) killing multiple ISIS terrorists.”
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth likewise posted on X, commending his department’s readiness to act in Nigeria and noting he was “grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation.”
The operation represents the first US military action in Nigeria during Trump’s tenure and follows remarks he made in October and November in which he sharply criticised Nigeria, claiming Christians there faced an “existential threat” amounting to “genocide.”
While some welcomed the diplomatic push, others argued it risked heightening religious tensions in Africa’s most populous nation, which has a history of sectarian violence.
Nigeria’s government and independent analysts have rejected portraying the country’s insecurity as religious persecution — a framing often advanced by Christian conservative groups in the United States and Europe.
Trump, however, has continued to highlight what his administration describes as global persecution of Christians, stressing that Washington is prepared to use military force in Nigeria to respond to such killings.
Earlier this year, the United States returned Nigeria to its list of countries of “particular concern” over religious freedom and imposed restrictions on the issuance of visas to Nigerians.
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