US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday (25) that the United States had carried out several bomb attacks against the Islamic State group in northwestern Nigeria. He said the operation targeted extremists accused of attacking Christian communities in the region.
“I had already warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the massacres of Christians, they would pay in hell, and tonight, they paid,” posted the American president on his social network Truth Social.
The Republican leader reiterated that “the War Department carried out several perfect attacks, as only the United States is capable of doing.”
Trump also once again accused the jihadist group of carrying out violent attacks against Christians and said the United States would not allow the spread of Islamic terrorism. The American president also threatened to carry out “many more” attacks if the massacres continued in Nigeria.
Following this statement, the US Department of Defense released a short video showing the launch of a missile from a military ship.
.@POTUS “Tonight, under my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS terrorists in northwest Nigeria, who are brutally targeting and killing primarily innocent Christians at levels not seen in many years, and… pic.twitter.com/ct7rUW128t
– Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) December 26, 2025
The U.S. Africa Command said the attack took place in Nigeria’s northwest state of Sokoto and was carried out in coordination with the country’s authorities. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly thanked the Nigerian government for its support.
In a statement, the Nigerian government confirmed that this action was part of security cooperation with the United States, which includes the exchange of intelligence information and strategic coordination to combat armed groups. The objective is to “combat the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism”, the note specifies.
These attacks were the first carried out by US forces in Nigeria under the Trump administration. In October, the American president criticized the country, saying that Nigerian Christians faced “an existential threat” equivalent to genocide.
Trump previously said he might order military intervention in Nigeria, alleging the local government had failed to contain the activities of extremist groups. In recent months, discourse about the persecution of Christians in the country has gained ground in conservative sectors in the United States.
Attacks on Christians and Muslims
Nigeria is divided between the south, with a Christian majority, and the north, with a Muslim majority. The country is the scene of numerous conflicts which kill believers of both faiths, often without distinction.
The Nigerian government and independent analysts refuse to speak of religious persecution, an argument long used by the Christian right in the United States, Europe and by Nigerian separatists who maintain their influence in Washington. This year, the US government relisted Nigeria as a country of “particular concern” for religious freedom and reduced visas for Nigerians.
The country faces a long-running jihadist conflict in the northeast, as well as armed gangs who pillage villages and kidnap people for ransom in the northwest. In the center, herders, mostly Muslims, and farmers, mostly Christians, frequently clash, although the violence is more linked to land and resource conflicts than to religion.
Recently, the UN also warned of an “increase in mass kidnappings”, which often involve hundreds of students. Other people were targeted at places of worship in separate kidnappings.
According to a report by SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy, the kidnapping-for-ransom phenomenon has “consolidated into a structured and profitable industry”, which raised approximately $1.66 million between July 2024 and June 2025.
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