The U.S. military carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria on Thursday evening, the Pentagon confirmed, saying the operation was conducted with the approval of the Nigerian government. The exact number of casualties remains unknown.
According to U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), the strikes targeted Islamic State–Sahel Province (ISSP) fighters in Sokoto state, a region bordering Niger that has seen a recent surge in extremist violence and kidnappings. The operation, AFRICOM said, was ordered by President Donald Trump and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump, who announced the strikes via his social media platform Truth Social, wrote that the U.S. military had launched “multiple strikes” in response to what he described as the ongoing “slaughter of Christians” in Nigeria. “Merry Christmas to all, including the dead terrorists — of which there will be many more if their killing of Christians continues,” Trump posted.
The Pentagon said Nigerian authorities authorized and cooperated in the attacks. “The operations were conducted in full coordination with the Nigerian government to counter ISIS-linked threats in the region,” a defense spokesperson said.
Nigeria, home to nearly 230 million people, is divided almost evenly between a mostly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south. Although religious violence has claimed Christian lives, analysts note that extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS-Sahel have also targeted Muslims.
Most of Nigeria’s insurgent activity has previously centered in the northeast, where Boko Haram has waged a decade-long campaign of church bombings and mass abductions in an attempt to establish an Islamic state.
Trump’s recent move followed his October decision to re-designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act, reviving a classification his earlier administration had imposed but which was later lifted under President Joe Biden. Sources familiar with the matter said Trump’s threat of military action came suddenly after meetings with religious leaders and a television news segment on Christian persecution.
The airstrikes mark the first known U.S. military action in Nigeria in several years and signal a significant escalation in Washington’s engagement with West Africa’s fight against terrorism.
