U.S. President Donald Trump
By Mark Longyen, with agency reports
U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered a deadly strike on Islamic State terrorists in Nigeria, who he has accused of persecuting Christians in the country.
Trump, who disclosed this in a post on his official social media platform, Truth Social on Christmas night, said the attack targeted ISIS terrorists in North-West Nigeria.
The president said that many terrorists were killed in the attack, which he credited to the U.S. Department of War.
According to the CNN, Trump announced this while spending the Christmas holiday at his estate in Palm Beach, U.S.A.
“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!
“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.
“The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.
“Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.
“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.
Trump had focused for the last several months on the plight of Christians in Nigeria, including calling in November on his secretary of defense to “prepare for possible action.”
The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in a post on its official X handle confirmed the bombings saying that it was at “the request of Nigerian authorities”.
In a separate post on social media, U.S. Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, confirmed the strikes against the terrorists saying he was “grateful for Nigerian government’s support and cooperation in the operation.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has yet to officially react to the new development as of the time of writing this report tonight.
Trump had strongly warned that the U.S. would enter Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to protect the Christian population of Africa’s most populous country.
Nigeria has grappled for years with deep-rooted security problems that are driven by various factors, including religiously motivated attacks.
Observers say other violent conflicts arise from communal and ethnic tensions, as well as disputes between farmers and herders over limited access to natural resources.
In the fall, Trump had accused Nigeria of religious freedom violations claiming that “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria” and designating the nation as a “Country of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act.
The label is a suggestion that his administration has found that Nigeria has engaged in or tolerated “systematic, ongoing, (and) egregious violations of religious freedom.”
Both Christians and Muslims, the two main religious groups in the country of more than 230 million people, have been victims of attacks by radical Islamists, experts and analysts say.
The plight of Nigeria’s Christians has been an animating subject for American conservatives for years.
Some of Trump’s top allies, including Sen. Ted Cruz, in recent months called for U.S. intervention after claiming Nigeria’s government wasn’t doing enough to prevent attacks on Christians.
Trump has cast himself a peacemaker, and entered office vowing to limit U.S. military intervention abroad.
Since returning to power, however, he has also ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and overseen a massive military buildup around Venezuela, with the threat of strikes on land there.
