Donald Trump has said the US carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in north-west Nigeria on Thursday, after spending weeks decrying the group for targeting Christians.
The president said in a post on his Truth Social platform: “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!
“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 conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities and killed multiple militants. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said he was “grateful for Nigerian government support + cooperation”.
Trump has previously said he would launch a “guns-a-blazing” US military intervention in Nigeria, claiming that the country’s government has been inadequate in its efforts to prevent attacks on Christians by Islamist groups.
Nigeria is officially a secular country but its population is almost evenly divided between Muslims (53%) and Christians (45%). Violence against Christians has drawn significant international attention, especially among the religious right in America, and it has often been framed as religious persecution.
However, Nigeria’s government rejects framing the country’s violence in terms of religious persecution, saying in the past that armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and US claims that Christians face persecution do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religious freedom. But the government has previously agreed to work with the US to bolster its forces against militant groups.
Many analysts say the situation is complex and has long roots in the region’s history. In some parts of the country, clashes between itinerant Muslim herders and predominantly Christian farming communities are rooted in competition over land and water.
Priests and pastors have increasingly been kidnapped for ransom, but some experts say this may be a trend driven by criminal incentives rather than religious discrimination.
