Trump: US Forces Launched Fatal Strikes on IS in Nigeria

President Trump said on Thursday evening that US forces carried out airstrikes on Islamic State targets in northwestern Nigeria, framing the operation as a response to attacks on Christians. In a Truth Social post, Trump said he ordered a "powerful and deadly" strike on ISIS militants in the Soboto state, accusing the group of killing Christians on a large scale, USA Today reports. A Pentagon official said the Nigerian government approved the operation and worked with the US to plan it, per the New York Times. Trump described the operation as involving numerous successful strikes, and an American official said it caused multiple deaths of militants.

Nigeria has been battling IS-linked armed groups in the area. In a Christmas address reported by Channels TV, Nigerian Air Marshal Kelvin Aneke urged the country's forces to intensify efforts against terrorism, banditry, and other crime in the region. The US strikes followed Trump's earlier warnings that he might use military force in Nigeria over what he called the government's failure to protect Christians, and after US forces hit ISIS targets in Syria on Dec. 19, following the deaths of two US troops and a civilian interpreter there.

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's press secretary called US characterizations of Christian persecution "a gross exaggeration," saying both Christians and Muslims, as well as churches and mosques, face attacks. Muslims mostly live in the northern part of Nigeria and Christians in the south, per NBC News. A bombing Wednesday night at a mosque in the northeastern city of Maiduguri killed five people, per NBC. After the US strikes, per ABC News, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted that there will be "more to come," ending his message with "Merry Christmas!"