Nigeria\u2019s foreign ministry says strikes were carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with US
\n washington
\nThe United States carried out an airstrike against Daesh militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria\u2019s government, US President Donald Trump and the US military said on Thursday, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in the region.
\n\u201cTonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS [Daesh] 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!,\u201d Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
\nThe US military\u2019s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto state at the request of the Nigerian authorities, and killed multiple Daesh militants.
\nThe strike comes after Trump starting in late October began warning that Christianity faces an \u201cexistential threat\u201d in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.
\nReuters reported on Monday that the US had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.
\n\u2018More to come\u2019
\nNigeria\u2019s foreign ministry said the strikes were carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the United States, involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
\n\u201cThis has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West,\u201d the ministry said in a post on X.
\nA video posted by the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launching from a warship.
\nUS Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on X thanked the Nigerian government for its support and cooperation and added: \u201cMore to come…\u201d
\nNigeria\u2019s government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and US claims that Christians face persecution do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religious freedom. But it has agreed to work with the US to bolster its forces against militant groups.
\nThe country\u2019s population is split between Muslims living primarily in the north and Christians in the south.
\nPolice said earlier on Thursday a suspected suicide bomber killed at least five people and injured 35 others in Nigeria\u2019s northeast, another region troubled by militants.
\nIn a Christmas message posted on X earlier, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for peace in his country, \u201cespecially between individuals of differing religious beliefs.\u201d
\nHe also said, \u201cI stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence.\u201d
\nTrump issued his statement on the strike 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.
\nThe US military last week launched separate large-scale strikes against dozens of Daesh targets in Syria, after Trump vowed to hit back in the wake of a suspected Daesh attack on US personnel in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria\u2019s foreign ministry says strikes were carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with US washington The United States carried out an airstrike against Daesh militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria\u2019s government, US President Donald Trump and the US military said on Thursday, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-522330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n