The United States carried out a targeted military strike against Islamic State terrorists in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day, acting in coordination with Nigerian authorities, U.S. President Donald Trump announced in a series of social media posts.
According to U.S. Africa Command, the strike was conducted in the Sokoto region and resulted in the deaths of multiple Islamic State militants. The operation was launched in response to what Nigerian officials described as a “persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism” posed by ISIS-linked groups operating in the country.
Trump said the strikes were ordered to halt the ongoing targeting of Christian civilians, warning that the United States would not stand by amid what he described as escalating violence against believers. In a post on Truth Social, the president said the U.S. had launched “powerful and deadly” strikes against ISIS militants who have been “viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.”
The U.S. Defense Department later released declassified footage showing at least one projectile launched from a U.S. warship as part of the operation. Pentagon officials confirmed that Nigeria’s government approved the strikes and worked closely with U.S. forces in planning and execution.
Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry said it would continue working with the United States and international partners to weaken terrorist networks, disrupt financing and logistics, and prevent cross-border threats. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, in a Christmas statement earlier this week, reaffirmed his commitment to protecting religious freedom for all Nigerians.
“No one, regardless of ethnicity or belief, should be made to suffer for professing or practicing his faith,” Tinubu said.
The strike follows a series of high-profile attacks on Christians in Nigeria linked to Islamic State affiliates and other extremist groups. In mid-December, gunmen abducted at least 13 worshippers during a church attack in Kogi State. In November, more than 300 schoolchildren were kidnapped from a Catholic school, an incident that drew international condemnation. All of the children were later released after weeks in captivity.
U.S. officials say violence against Christians has intensified in northern Nigeria over the past decade as Islamist groups, including Boko Haram and ISIS affiliates, wage an insurgency against the secular government. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with roughly 237 million people, is nearly evenly divided between Muslims and Christians, with Christians concentrated largely in the south and central regions.
Last month, Trump reinstated Nigeria’s designation as a “country of particular concern” for religious freedom violations, responding to pressure from U.S. Christian leaders and advocacy groups. While some activists have labeled the violence a “Christian genocide,” Nigerian officials maintain the conflict is complex, involving ethnic tensions, criminal gangs, and extremist ideology.
Still, Trump warned that further attacks on Christian civilians would prompt additional U.S. action, saying the United States would not allow radical Islamic terrorism to prosper. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth echoed that stance, writing that the president has been clear the killing of innocent Christians “must end.”
