President Donald Trump has said the US carried out a “powerful and deadly strike” against the Islamic State (IS) group in north-western Nigeria.
The US president described IS as “ terrorist scum”, accusing the group of “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”.
Trump said the US military “executed numerous perfect strikes”, while the US Africa Command (Africom) later stated that Thursday’s attack was carried out in co-ordination with Nigeria in Sokoto state.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar told the BBC that it was a “joint operation” aimed at “terrorists”, stressing that it “has nothing to do with a particular religion”.
Without specifically mentioning IS, Tuggar said the operation had been planned “for quite some time” and relied on intelligence information supplied by the Nigerian authorities.
The minister did not rule out the possibility of further strikes, saying this would depend on “decisions to be taken by the leadership of the two countries”.
In his post on Truth Social late on Thursday, Trump said that “under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper”.
In November, Trump directed the US military to prepare for possible action in Nigeria to confront Islamist militant groups.
He did not specify at the time which killings he was referring to, but allegations of a genocide against Nigeria’s Christians have circulated in recent months within some right-wing US circles.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that he was “grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation”.
“Merry Christmas!” he added, posting on X.
The US Department of Defense later shared a short video appearing to show a missile launch from a military vessel.
On Friday morning, the Nigerian foreign ministry said in a statement that the country’s authorities “remain engaged in structured security co-operation with international partners, including the United States of America, in addressing the persistent threat of terrorist and violent extremism.
“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West,” the statement said.
Groups monitoring violence say there is no evidence indicating that Christians are being killed more than Muslims in Nigeria, a country that is roughly evenly divided between followers of the two religions.
An adviser to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu told the BBC at the time that any military action against jihadist groups should be conducted jointly.
Daniel Bwala said Nigeria would welcome US assistance in tackling Islamist insurgents but emphasised that the country is “sovereign”.
He also said the jihadists were not targeting people based on religion and had killed individuals of all faiths, or none.
President Tinubu has maintained that there is religious tolerance in the country and said the security challenges affect people “across faiths and regions”.
Trump earlier announced that he had designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” due to the “existential threat” to its Christian population. He said “thousands” had been killed, without presenting any evidence.
This designation is used by the US state department and allows for sanctions against countries “engaged in severe violations of religious freedom”.
Following the announcement, Tinubu said his administration remained committed to working with the US and the international community to protect people of all faiths.
Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have caused devastation in north-eastern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands of people – however most of the victims have been Muslims, according to Acled, a group that analyses political violence worldwide.
In central Nigeria, frequent clashes also occur between mostly Muslim herders and farming communities, who are often Christian, over access to water and grazing land.
Deadly cycles of retaliatory attacks have also resulted in thousands of deaths – but atrocities have been carried out on both sides.
Human rights organisations say there is no evidence that Christians have been disproportionately targeted.
Last week, the US said it had carried out a “massive strike” against IS in Syria.
The US Central Command (Centcom) said fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery “struck more than 70 targets at multiple locations across central Syria”. Aircraft from Jordan were also involved.
