President Donald Trump authorized deadly airstrikes against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day, targeting terrorist camps accused of massacring Christian communities across the region.
The strikes, conducted by US Africa Command, hit multiple ISIS positions and killed several terrorists, according to initial military assessments.
Trump Warns of Escalating Response
"Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria," Trump announced on Truth Social.
The president claimed ISIS militants have been "targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries".
Trump had previously issued a stark warning to the Nigerian government on November 1, threatening to cut all US aid if violence against Christians continued. "If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country 'guns-a-blazing,'" he wrote at the time.
ISWAP Emerges as Global Terror Epicenter
The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has become the most active ISIS affiliate worldwide, accounting for nearly 35% of all ISIS operations globally in the first half of 2025.
With 215 attacks and 734 casualties in Nigeria alone during that period, ISWAP's coordinated "Camp Inferno" campaign has successfully overrun 17 Nigerian military bases. The terrorist organization, which formed in 2015 when Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS, controls broad swaths of territory across the Lake Chad Basin region.
This latest US military intervention recalls similar operations against extremist groups in Syria earlier this year, when regional powers struggled to contain sectarian violence.
Precision Strikes Target Terror Infrastructure
"The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing," Trump stated, praising the military's operational capabilities.
US Africa Command coordinated the operation with Nigerian authorities, though the command faces significant logistical challenges without nearby bases following recent withdrawals from neighboring Niger.
Military officials had previously prepared three escalatory intervention options for Nigeria, ranging from partner-enabled operations to drone strikes and carrier group deployments.
Sectarian Violence Intensifies
Violence targeting Christians in Nigeria increased 21% in 2021 compared to 2020, with attacks concentrated primarily in Kaduna and Borno states.
While Christians comprise roughly 50% of Nigeria's population, targeted anti-Christian violence accounts for 5% of civilian targeting events nationwide. ISWAP uses ambushes, military-style assaults, roadside bombs, and kidnappings against regional military targets, civilian defense forces, and Christian communities.
The terrorist branch regularly attacks government personnel, foreign aid workers, and civilians perceived as opposing its interpretation of sharia law.
Warning Against Further Atrocities
Trump concluded his Christmas Day statement with a dire warning: "Under my leadership, our nation will not permit Radical Islamic Terrorism to thrive. May God bless our military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone, including the deceased terrorists, of which there will be many more if the slaughter of Christians continues".
The president's forceful rhetoric signals a potential escalation in US military involvement across West Africa, where ISIS affiliates have transformed the region into what analysts describe as the epicenter of global jihadist activity.
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