Donald Trump has said US forces carried out deadly airstrikes against Islamic State militants in north-western Nigeria, warning that further attacks would follow if the group continued killing Christians.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, the US president said the strikes were ordered by him as commander-in-chief and carried out by what he described as the “Department of War”, claiming the operation involved “numerous perfect strikes”.
“Tonight, at my direction … the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS terrorist scum in northwest Nigeria,” Trump wrote, alleging the militants had been “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”.
He added that he had previously warned the group to halt the violence, saying: “If they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.”
Trump said the US would not allow “radical Islamic terrorism to prosper” under his leadership, ending his post with a Christmas message that included a reference to the militants killed in the strikes.
In a separate post on X, the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said Washington acted with the cooperation of the Nigerian government. “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end,” he wrote, adding that the US defence department was “always ready”.
US Africa Command later confirmed that it had conducted strikes in Sokoto state on 25 December, saying multiple Isis fighters were killed. The command said the operation was carried out at the direction of the president and in coordination with Nigerian authorities.
The airstrikes came a day after a bomb attack on a mosque in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state in north-eastern Nigeria, killed five people and injured dozens in what authorities believe was a suicide bombing, underlining the country’s continuing security challenges.
Nigeria has for years faced violence from armed Islamist groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, particularly in the north-east but increasingly in other regions.
Last month, Trump warned that he could cut off US aid to Nigeria and take direct military action if the government failed to do more to stop attacks on Christians. In a Truth Social post on 1 November, he said he had instructed the US military to prepare for possible action against what he called “terrorist thugs” in the country.
The comments come amid a broader reassertion of US military force abroad. Since taking office in January, Trump has ordered or overseen strikes in Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific.
