The United States launched airstrikes against targets of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in northwestern Nigeria, on Christmas Day, this Thursday (25).
According to the Pentagon, the attacks required the launch of ten Tomahawk missiles from a US Navy ship positioned in the Gulf of Guinea and hit “multiple” targets in Sokoto state, close to the border with Niger.
The operation was announced by President Donald Trump himself in a message on social media, in which he emphasized that it was an action against extremists who persecute Christians in the country.
“The United States has launched a powerful and deadly attack against ISIS terrorist scum in northwestern Nigeria,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “I had already warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the massacre of Christians, there would be terrible consequences, and tonight there were”, continued the American.
Then Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on X: “The president was clear last month: the murder of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must stop.”
The Nigerian government confirmed this Friday (26) that it collaborated with the American military. “The Nigerian Armed Forces, in collaboration with the United States of America, successfully carried out precision strike operations against identified foreign elements, linked to IS, operating in northwestern areas of Nigeria,” said Armed Forces Spokesperson, Lieutenant General Samaila Uba.
“The attacks were based on reliable intelligence and careful operational planning, with the aim of weakening the terrorists’ operational capacity, while minimizing collateral damage,” Uba added in a statement.
In another note, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that Nigerian authorities maintain “structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States, to address the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism.”
“This resulted in precision air strikes against terrorist targets in Nigeria, in the northwest,” the foreign ministry highlighted, adding that “this cooperation includes intelligence exchange, strategic coordination and other forms of support in accordance with international law, mutual respect for sovereignty and shared commitments to regional and global security.”
To the The Wall Street Journala US Department of Defense official said that Nigerian authorities approved the Christmas Day attacks.
Operation announced by Trump targeted extremists who persecute Christians
The confirmation by the Nigerian government came hours after Trump announced on Thursday that his country had launched a “powerful and deadly” attack on IS camps in northwestern Nigeria.
In a message published on his own social network, Truth Social, the American president added: “Previously, I warned these terrorists that, if they did not stop the massacre of Christians, all hell would be unleashed, and tonight it happened.”
Last November, Trump accused the African country of “allowing” Christians to be massacred and announced the designation of Nigeria as “of special concern” (a category reserved for nations involved in “serious violations of religious freedom”) and threatened possible military intervention.
The Nigerian government defended itself at the time, saying that it “took note” of the republican president’s statements, but stressed that these accusations “do not reflect the reality on the ground.”
Northeast Nigeria has suffered attacks from the jihadist group Boko Haram since 2009, violence that worsened in 2016 with the emergence of its dissent, the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Both groups intend to impose a radical Islamic state in Nigeria, a country with a Muslim majority in the north and predominantly Christian in the south.
Boko Haram and ISWAP killed more than 35,000 people and caused around 2.7 million internal displacements, mainly in Nigeria, but also in neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Chad and Niger, according to official data.
