The United States on Thursday carried out air and missile strikes against Islamic State targets in northwestern Nigeria, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s counterterrorism posture in West Africa and directly linking military action to President Donald Trump’s repeated warnings over attacks on Christians. President Trump announced the strikes on Christmas, saying the United States had launched “powerful and deadly” attacks against ISIS militants whom he accused of “slaughtering Christians” in Nigeria. The operation, carried out in coordination with the Nigerian military, comes days after large-scale US airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and weeks after Trump publicly threatened military action against Nigeria if violence against Christians continued.
According to US Africa Command, the strikes killed multiple ISIS operatives and targeted camps linked to Islamic State affiliates operating near Nigeria’s border with Niger.Also read: ‘Merry Christmas to all’: US releases footage of strikes against ISIS in Nigeria — watch
Why Trump ordered strikes on ISIS in Nigeria
President Trump framed the US military operation in Nigeria as a response to what he described as widespread killings of Christians by Islamist militants, casting the violence as religious persecution and linking it directly to his decision to authorise strikes. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “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!”Trump said he had previously warned the militants to halt attacks on Christians and presented the strikes as the result of those warnings being ignored. “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,” he said.Meanwhile, Trump praised the Pentagon for carrying out the operation and said, “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing,” and added that under his leadership, the country would not allow “Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper”. President Trump has repeatedly characterised the violence in Nigeria as a targeted campaign against Christians, using unusually strong language for a sitting US president. In earlier remarks, he said “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria” and blamed “radical Islamists” for what he described as a “mass slaughter”.Senior US officials echoed the president’s justification for the strikes. War secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on social media that “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end”, adding, “so ISIS found out tonight”.According to a report by The New York Times, the administration has faced growing pressure from Christian evangelical groups and senior Republican lawmakers, including Senator Ted Cruz, who have accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christian communities and urged Congress to designate Nigeria as a violator of religious freedom.
Why the strikes happened now
The timing of the strikes was the result of several converging developments, according to US military officials and public statements.
- First, Trump had already instructed the Pentagon in November to prepare military options for possible action in Nigeria. In a separate social media warning weeks earlier, Trump said: “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
He added: “I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!”
- Second, according to a US military official cited by the New York Times, American forces had been conducting intelligence-gathering surveillance flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November. These flights helped identify militant camps and infrastructure linked to Islamic State affiliates.
- Third, Nigerian officials had stepped up engagement with Washington in recent weeks. The New York Times reported that US Africa Command had drawn up targeting options and forwarded them to the Pentagon and the White House, including airstrikes on known militant compounds in northern Nigeria.
The Christmas Day timing also followed a renewed wave of violence in Nigeria. Just days earlier, a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive during evening prayers at a mosque in Maiduguri, killing at least five people, according to Nigerian officials, while local media reported higher casualties.The Nigeria strikes come just days after the United States carried out one of its largest recent military operations against Islamic State targets in Syria.On December 20, US forces struck more than 70 Islamic State targets across central Syria using fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery, according to US Central Command.Trump described those attacks as “very serious retaliation” after a December 13 assault in Palmyra killed two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter.Wrr secretary Pete Hegseth said at the time, “This is not the beginning of a war, it is a declaration of vengeance”. The Syria operation and the Nigeria strikes together signal a broader shift toward more aggressive, high-profile military action against Islamic State affiliates under Trump’s leadership.
How US carried out strikes
According to a US military official speaking on condition of anonymity, the strike involved more than a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from a US Navy ship operating in the Gulf of Guinea.The missiles hit two Islamic State camps in Nigeria’s northwestern Sokoto state, a region bordering Niger. The operation was conducted in coordination with the Nigerian military, the official said.US Africa Command confirmed the operation in a statement, saying its initial assessment found that “multiple” Islamic State terrorists were killed.“US Africa Command is working with our Nigerian and regional partners to increase counter terrorism cooperation efforts related to ongoing violence and threats against innocent lives,” said Gen. Dagvin Anderson, the commander of US Africa Command. “Our goal is to protect Americans and disrupt violent extremist organizations wherever they are.”Analyst Caleb Weiss, editor of FDD’s Long War Journal, said the strikes targeted areas where the Islamic State-Sahel branch operates, noting that the group has been active along the Nigeria-Niger border, attacking both civilians and security forces.
ISIS presence and influence in Nigeria
The Islamic State’s presence in Nigeria is primarily linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP, an officially recognised affiliate of the Islamic State group that emerged from Boko Haram after the extremist organisation pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015.Following internal disputes, Boko Haram splintered into rival factions, with ISWAP evolving into the more structured, disciplined, and internationally aligned wing. According to publicly available assessments by Western governments and counterterrorism agencies, ISWAP’s core area of operations remains northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin, though its activity has increasingly spread into northwestern and southern regions in recent years.
The group adheres to an extreme Salafi ideology and has carried out attacks against civilians, religious institutions, military installations, and government infrastructure. ISWAP has been responsible for several high-casualty attacks, including the June 2022 bombing of a Catholic church in Owo that killed at least 40 people, as well as coordinated assaults on towns, prisons, and security forces. The United States designated ISWAP as a foreign terrorist organisation in 2018, with the United Nations and several Western governments subsequently imposing sanctions.While President Donald Trump and some US lawmakers have framed the violence in Nigeria as a targeted campaign against Christians, Nigerian authorities and security analysts argue that the drivers of violence are more complex. Nigeria’s population of around 220 million is split almost evenly between Christians and Muslims, and insecurity across the country stems from multiple overlapping conflicts, including jihadist insurgencies, criminal banditry, farmer-herder clashes, ethnic rivalries, and separatist movements.Nigerian officials have rejected claims of a Christian genocide, saying armed groups target both Muslims and Christians. Analysts note that in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north, Muslims make up a significant share of the victims of militant violence. According to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data group, more than 12,000 people were killed by various violent groups in Nigeria this year alone, making it one of the deadliest conflict zones globally despite the country not being formally at war.Following the US strikes, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the operation was carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities. In a post on X, the ministry said: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria confirms that Nigerian authorities remain engaged in structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States of America, in addressing the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism.”The ministry said the cooperation had resulted in “precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West” and stressed that the partnership was conducted in line with international law and respect for Nigeria’s sovereignty.“Terrorist violence in any form whether directed at Christians, Muslims, or other communities remains an affront to Nigeria’s values and to international peace and security,” the statement said.Foreign ministry spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa said the Nigerian government remains committed to protecting citizens of all faiths and continuing cooperation with international partners to disrupt terrorist networks.President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also pushed back against Trump’s characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant. After Trump designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over religious freedom, Tinubu said the label did not reflect the country’s reality.“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so,” Tinubu said. “Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it. Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths.”The designation echoed a similar move by the US State Department in 2020, which was lifted in 2023 amid efforts to reset bilateral ties.
What happens next
President Donald Trump has indicated that the Nigeria strikes may not be a one-off operation, signalling the possibility of further US military action if attacks continue.In his Christmas Day post on December 25, Trump warned that additional strikes could follow. “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,” he said.Senior US officials including Pete Hegseth reinforced the suggestion that the campaign could continue. Nigerian authorities, meanwhile, have sought to emphasise cooperation and restraint. In a post on X, Nigeria’s ministry of foreign affairs said: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria confirms that Nigerian authorities remain engaged in structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States of America, in addressing the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism.” The ministry said this cooperation had resulted in “precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West” and stressed that the engagement was conducted in line with international law, respect for sovereignty, and the protection of civilians.“Nigeria reiterates that all counter-terrorism efforts are guided by the primacy of protecting civilian lives, safeguarding national unity, and upholding the rights and dignity of all citizens, irrespective of faith or ethnicity,” the statement said, adding that terrorist violence “whether directed at Christians, Muslims, or other communities remains an affront to Nigeria’s values and to international peace and security”.Despite the show of force, US military officials have cautioned that airstrikes alone are unlikely to resolve Nigeria’s deeply entrenched security crisis. According to The New York Times, Pentagon officials have privately expressed doubts about the long-term impact of limited strikes, citing the decentralised nature of militant groups and the overlap between ideological insurgency and criminal violence across the country. Go to Source
