U.S. launches strike against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria

The UnitedStates carried out an airstrikeagainstIslamicStatemilitantsinnorthwestNigeriaat the request ofNigeria’s government, U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. military said on Thursday, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in the region.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the UnitedStates launched a powerful and deadlystrikeagainstISIS Terrorist Scum inNorthwestNigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The U.S. military’s Africa Command said on X thestrikewas conducted at the request ofNigerian authorities and killed multiple ISISmilitants.

Thestrikecomes after Trump starting in late October began warning that Christianity faces an “existential threat” inNigeriaand threatened tomilitarily intervenein the West African country over what he says is its failure to stopviolence targeting Christiancommunities.

Reuters reported on Monday the U.S. had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts ofNigeriasince late November.

Nigeria’s government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and U.S. claims that Christians face persecution do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religiousfreedom. But it has agreed to work with the U.S. to bolster its forcesagainstmilitant groups.

The country’s population is split between Muslims living primarily in the north and Christians in the south.

The president issued hisstatement on Christmas Day while he was at his Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago Club, where he has been spending the holiday. He had no public events during the day and was last seen by the reporters traveling with him on Wednesday night.