US launches strikes against ISIS targets in Nigeria, says Trump

The United States launched strikes against ISIS targets in Nigeria on Thursday, President Trump said.

“Tonight, under my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS terrorists in northwest Nigeria, who are brutally targeting and killing primarily innocent Christians at levels not seen in many years, if not centuries!” Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform Social truth. “I already warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the massacre of Christians there would be hell to pay, and tonight that was the case.”

Mr. Trump did not provide further details about the strikes, such as how many people were killed, who or what was specifically targeted, and how many strikes were carried out, saying only that they were “many perfect strikes.”

In early November, Mr. Trump said he asked the Pentagon to “prepare for possible action” in Nigeria after saying the Nigerian government was not doing enough to combat the persecution of Christians in that country.

“If we attack, it will be swift, vicious and gentle, just like the terrorist thugs attack our Christian Christians! WARNING: NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER ACT QUICKLY!” Mr. Trump wrote on November 1st.

In response at the time, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social networks that the “War Department” – the Trump administration’s preferred term for the Department of Defense – was “preparing for action.”

This also comes about a week after the United States carried out a series of strikes against ISIS targets in Syria in response to the deaths of two American soldiers and an interpreter.

Mr. Trump also said in November that he would designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern.”

Designate a “country of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is an executive prerogative that normally follows the recommendations of the congressionally mandated U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the Department of State.

The State Department generally publishes it’s annual Report on international religious freedom in the spring, but it has not done so yet this year. The report may or may not include “special concern” designations, which can be done at any time. And such designations, which authorize U.S. sanctions, do not necessarily impose sanctions.

The Nigerian government has rejected Mr Trump’s claims that it was not doing enough to protect Christians from violence. Analysts said that although Christians are among those targeted, the majority of victims of armed groups are Muslims in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria, where most attacks occur.

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu previously said on social media that the characterization of Nigeria as a religiously intolerant country does not reflect the national reality.

“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a fundamental principle of our collective identity and will always remain so,” Tinubu said. “Nigeria opposes and does not encourage religious persecution. Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths.”

Nigeria was placed on the list of “countries of particular concern” for the first time. list by the United States in 2020 in what the State Department called “systematic violations of religious freedom.” But this designation does not mention attacks against Christians. The designation was lifted in 2023 in what many saw as a way to improve ties between the countries ahead of then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit.