By CNN
President Donald Trump said Thursday he ordered a deadly strike against Islamic State terrorists in Nigeria, accusing the group of persecuting Christians in the country.
In a post on social media, Trump said he directed a “powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria,” claiming the militants had been killing innocent Christians.
US Africa Command said it conducted the strikes in Sokoto state, which borders Niger to the north, “in coordination with Nigerian authorities.” AFRICOM’s initial assessment is that “multiple ISIS terrorists were killed in the ISIS camps,” according to a news release.
In another statement posted to X on Thursday, which was later deleted, AFRICOM said it had conducted the attack at the request of Nigerian authorities.
CNN has reached out to AFRICOM and the White House for additional comment. In a separate post on social media, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he was “grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation.”
In a statement shared with CNN, the Nigerian Foreign Ministry confirmed cooperation with the United States on airstrikes against “terrorist targets” and reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to upholding the rights of all citizens, “irrespective of faith or
An image taken from video released by the US Department of Defense shows a strike on what President Donald Trump called “ISIS Terrorist Scum” on Thursday, December 25.
Daniel Bwala, special adviser to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, told CNN, “The US and Nigeria are on the same page in the fight against terrorism.”
“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 Thursday evening. “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,” the president added. Trump is spending the Christmas holiday at his estate in Palm Beach.
Trump has focused in recent months on the plight of Christians in Nigeria, including calling in November on his secretary of defense to “prepare for possible action” and warning the United States would enter Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to protect the Christian population of Africa’s most populous country.
