On Christmas Day, the United States military carried out airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) targets in northwest Nigeria, President Donald Trump announced late Thursday night, in what he described as a decisive response to what he claims are escalating attacks on Christians in the region.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said he ordered the strikes “at my direction as Commander in Chief” and vowed the United States would not allow extremist violence to continue unabated.
“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!” Trump wrote.
Trump, who has faced criticism at home and abroad for his characterization of conflict in Nigeria, did not provide detailed information about the number of strikes, the specific military targets, or confirmed casualty figures. Instead, he framed the operation as both a military and moral imperative.
“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,” he added in the post, before concluding with a holiday message: “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.”
The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) confirmed that the operation took place in Sokoto State, in northwest Nigeria, saying in a statement that its “initial assessment” indicated multiple ISIS militants were killed. The command also noted that the strikes were conducted in coordination with Nigerian authorities.
United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth took to X (formerly Twitter) to reinforce the message, stating the Pentagon was “grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation” and asserting that American forces remained prepared for further action.
Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry likewise acknowledged the strikes in a statement, saying that “precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West” were carried out as part of ongoing collaboration with international partners to address terrorism and violent extremism in the region. The ministry emphasized that counter-terror cooperation did not undermine Nigerian sovereignty.
Trump’s Christmas night announcement follows weeks of increasingly strong rhetoric from the U.S. president, in which he accused Nigeria’s government of failing to protect Christians from extremist violence and suggested the country faced an “existential threat.” In November, Trump said he had instructed the Pentagon to “prepare for possible action” after claiming that Nigerian authorities were not doing enough to stop religiously motivated killing.
Critics, including some international observers and analysts — have warned that framing Nigeria’s complex security challenges primarily as religious persecution oversimplifies the situation. Armed groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have targeted communities across religious lines, and analysts point to broader issues of regional instability, economic marginalization, and competition for resources as underlying drivers of violence.
Meanwhile, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu posted messages on social media earlier on Thursday, calling for peace and stressing the government’s commitment to protecting citizens of all faiths. “Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so,” he wrote, underscoring that Nigeria opposes all forms of persecution.
The strikes mark one of the most significant direct U.S. military actions in Nigeria in recent years and signal deepening cooperation between Washington and Abuja on counter-terrorism operations. Nigeria’s northern region has been plagued by violent extremist activity for over a decade, including attacks on schools, villages, and places of worship.
In addition to the U.S. military action, violence continued elsewhere in the country on Christmas Day, with reports of an explosion at a mosque in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, that killed several people and wounded dozens, highlighting the persistence of insecurity across different regions and communities.
