In a significant military operation authorized by President Donald Trump, United States forces executed a targeted strike against ISIS-affiliated terrorists in northwestern Nigeria on Thursday. The action, carried out with Tomahawk missiles launched from a naval vessel, specifically targeted two ISIS strongholds in Sokoto State near the Nigerian-Nigerien border.
President Trump announced the operation via social media, characterizing it as a ‘powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum’ and explicitly linking the intervention to the protection of Nigerian Christians. ‘I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay,’ Trump stated, adding a Christmas message that extended to ‘the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.’
The operation received official confirmation from U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), which indicated preliminary assessments showed multiple ISIS fighters eliminated from their camps. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth affirmed Nigeria’s cooperation in the mission, promising ‘more to come’ in future counterterrorism efforts.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar provided critical context, revealing he had consulted with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio prior to the operation and that President Bola Tinubu had authorized the action. Tuggar emphasized the strike was not religiously motivated but rather aimed at protecting all civilians across Nigeria and the Sahel region, where extremist violence has escalated dramatically in recent years with Muslim communities constituting the majority of victims.
Security analysts identified the likely target as Lakurawa, an emerging terrorist organization operating in northwestern Nigeria that was officially designated as terrorist earlier this year. The group has conducted numerous attacks against both civilians and security forces while maintaining bases in forested border regions.
President Tinubu’s Christmas Eve message called for national unity among all faiths and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to protecting religious freedom for all Nigerians. The strike represents the latest in a series of military actions undertaken by the Trump administration since returning to office, including operations against Iran’s nuclear program and Venezuelan military buildup, marking a shift from campaign promises to reduce foreign military interventions.