Late on Christmas Day, U.S. warplanes pounded ISIS-linked positions in northwestern Nigeria’s Sokoto state, a sharp escalation of America’s role in the country’s fight against extremists.
The strikes hit camps belonging to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Though the group is best known for operating in the northeast and around the Lake Chad basin, its recent push into Nigeria’s northwest has set off alarm bells in Washington and elsewhere.
President Donald Trump broke the news himself on Truth Social, calling the attack “powerful and deadly.” Minutes later, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) posted on X that the raids were carried out “at the request of Nigerian authorities.”
“Lethal strikes against ISIS show the strength of our military and our resolve to wipe out terrorist threats to Americans at home and overseas,” AFRICOM said.
The bombs landed after weeks of rising rhetoric from the White House. In November, Trump warned he might go in “guns-a-blazing to wipe out the terrorists killing our cherished Christians,” echoing claims from several U.S. lawmakers and advocacy groups that a genocide against Christians is underway in Nigeria.
In his Christmas-night post, the president wrote:
“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!”
He added a warning:
“I have previously told 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.”
He signed off with:
“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.”
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded with a brief statement signed by spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa, calling the action part of “structured security cooperation with international partners.”
