The United States has carried out military strikes against ISIS targets in northwestern Nigeria, President Donald Trump announced Thursday, marking a significant escalation of U.S. military action in West Africa.
In a statement posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said the strikes were ordered under his authority as commander in chief and were aimed at ISIS militants he accused of targeting and killing civilians, particularly Christians. He described the operation as consisting of “numerous perfect strikes,” but did not provide details on casualties, specific targets, or the number of strikes conducted.
The announcement follows weeks of heightened rhetoric from Trump regarding violence in Nigeria. In early November, he said he had instructed the Pentagon to prepare for possible military action, warning that failure to halt attacks on Christians would prompt a swift U.S. response. At the time, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Department of Defense—referred to by the administration as the “Department of War”—was preparing for action.
The Nigeria strikes come just over a week after U.S. forces carried out airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria in retaliation for the killing of two American soldiers and a U.S. interpreter, underscoring a broader campaign against the militant group across multiple regions.
Nigeria’s government has strongly rejected Trump’s claims that it is failing to protect Christians. Officials and security analysts have emphasized that while Christians are among those affected by extremist violence, the majority of victims in Nigeria’s conflict-hit north are Muslims, in a region where attacks by armed groups are most frequent.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has previously pushed back against portrayals of Nigeria as religiously intolerant, stressing the country’s constitutional commitment to religious freedom.
“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so,” Tinubu said in an earlier statement. “Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it.”
U.S. officials have not yet released an independent statement detailing the scope or results of the strikes, and Nigerian authorities have not publicly confirmed the operation. The situation remains fluid as both governments respond to the developments.
Credit: CBS News
