Dare Babalola
The United States has carried out airstrikes against ISIS targets in northwest Nigeria, targeting terrorists who have been killing Christians, US President Donald Trump announced on Christmas Day.
In his statement, President Trump described the “numerous” airstrikes as “powerful and deadly”, recalling his earlier warning to the terrorists to stop killing Christians in Nigeria.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!
“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 wrote on Truth Social.
The post added, “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.
“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.”
US Africa Command said the Christmas Day strike was carried out in Sokoto State and initial assessments indicate “multiple ISIS terrorists were killed in the ISIS camps.”
The Department of War shared unclassified footage of a missile being launched from the deck of a military vessel after Trump announced the operation.
The Pentagon coordinated with the Nigerian government ahead of the strikes.
According to The Post, a War Department official disclosed that, “The Department of War worked with the government of Nigeria to carry out these strikes.
“These strikes were approved by the government of Nigeria.”
Although President Bola Tinubu is yet to comment on the development, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the strike was carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the US, which includes the exchange of intelligence and strategic coordination to take out militant groups.
“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West,” the ministry said in a statement.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth noted that Trump “was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end.”
“The Department of War is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come…” Hegseth wrote on X.
The airstrikes came one day after a bomb ripped through a mosque in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, killing five people and injuring dozens, in a suspected suicide attack.
Nigeria has been plagued by violence carried out by multiple armed militant groups, including Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province.
Last month, Trump warned that he would cut off US aid to Nigeria and go into the country “guns-a-blazing” if the government didn’t do more to stop the Islamic extremists from killing Christians.
The president noted that he had instructed the War Department to “prepare for possible action” against “terrorist thugs” in Nigeria in his Nov. 1 Truth Social post.
