USA— President Donald Trump announced that the United States carried out what he described as a “deadly strike” against Islamic State fighters in northwest Nigeria, accusing the group of killing Christians in the region.
In a Christmas night post on Truth Social Trump said the strikes targeted “ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years.”
He added, “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.”
Trump claimed that US forces had “executed numerous perfect strikes” and stressed that his administration would not allow “Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.”
He concluded his post by saying, “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.”
US Africa Command later confirmed that it had “conducted a strike at the request of Nigerian authorities in Sokoto State killing multiple ISIS terrorists.”
The operation followed earlier US strikes in Syria last week after an ISIS attack killed two American soldiers and an interpreter.
Trump has repeatedly accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians and last month warned that US aid could be suspended if action was not taken.
Nigerian officials have said militant violence is driven more by geography than religion, though they have welcomed US support while stressing respect for Nigeria’s sovereignty.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X, “The Department of War is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas.”
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