US launches strikes against Islamic State in Nigeria, Trump says

The United States has carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in north-west Nigeria, President Donald Trump says, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in the region.

“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!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“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 War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.”

The US military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto state at the request of the Nigerian authorities and killed multiple IS militants.

The strike comes after Trump, in late October, began warning that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.

Reuters reported on Monday that the US had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.

Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry said the strikes were carried out as part of an ongoing security co-operation with the United States, involving intelligence-sharing and strategic co-ordination to target militant groups.

“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by airstrikes in the North West,” the ministry said on X.

A video posted by the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launched from a warship. A US defence official said the strike targeted multiple militants at known Islamic State camps.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth on X thanked the Nigerian government for its support and co-operation, and added: “More to come ...”

Nigeria is battling multiple militant groups in its troubled northern region, including Islamic State West Africa Province and Boko Haram. Several thousand people have been killed, with millions displaced from their homes since 2009, according to the United Nations.

Nigeria’s government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and the claim that Christians face persecution does not represent the complex security situation.

That point is echoed by conflict-monitoring groups, who say there is no evidence to suggest that Christians are being killed more than Muslims in Nigeria, whose population is roughly evenly divided between Muslims living primarily in the north and Christians in the south.

In a Christmas message posted on X, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for peace “especially between individuals of differing religious beliefs”.

He also said: “I stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence.”

Tinubu declared a security emergency last month and ordered the army and police to begin mass recruitment to tackle worsening armed violence. That move followed attacks in multiple states where civilians were killed and kidnapped, and the mass abduction of more than 300 schoolchildren.

Police said on Thursday that a suspected suicide bomber killed at least five people and injured 35 others in the country’s north-east, another region troubled by Islamist insurgents.

The US has taken steps in recent months to punish Nigeria for its perceived failure to protect Christians.

In October, Trump put Nigeria back on a list of countries the US says have violated religious freedom, and this week, Nigeria was added to the US travel ban list of countries facing partial restrictions and entry limitations.

Turkey arrests dozens over suspected attacks

In separate development, Turkish police launched a string of simultaneous raids detaining more than 100 suspected Islamic State members who were allegedly planning attacks on Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, authorities said.

A statement from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said police were tipped off that the extremist group had called for action – particularly against non-Muslims – during the celebrations.

The office had issued warrants for 137 suspects, of whom 115 were detained. Officers also seized many firearms, cartridges and documents during the raids. It said 124 locations were raided.

The arrests come days after the US launched widespread military strikes in neighbouring Syria to “eliminate” Islamic State fighters and weapons’ sites in retaliation for an ambush blamed on the group that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter.

Reuters, AP, Bloomberg

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