The United States carried out airstrikes on Islamic State (ISIS) targets in northwestern Nigeria on Christmas Day, marking Washington’s first direct military action in the country under President Donald Trump.
President Trump said the strikes were “powerful and deadly” and targeted ISIS militants operating in Sokoto state. In a post on his Truth Social platform, he linked the operation to his administration’s warnings over attacks on Christians in Nigeria, stating that US forces had acted after militants failed to halt what he described as the “slaughtering of Christians”.
Nigeria’s foreign ministry confirmed the strikes early on Friday, describing them as “precision hits on terrorist targets” carried out in cooperation with Nigerian authorities. The ministry said Abuja remains engaged in structured security partnerships with international allies, including the United States, to combat terrorism and violent extremism.
US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed in the operation, which it confirmed was conducted at Nigeria’s request. However, neither AFRICOM nor Nigerian officials disclosed casualty figures or specific locations beyond Sokoto state.
The Pentagon’s chief, Pete Hegseth, said he was “grateful for Nigerian government support and cooperation”, underscoring the security relationship between both countries.
The strikes come after months of heightened rhetoric from President Trump, who in October and November accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians and warned that the situation amounted to an “existential threat”. He previously threatened military action and potential cuts to US aid if the killings continued.
Nigeria’s government and several independent analysts have rejected the framing of the country’s insecurity as religious persecution, arguing that violence is driven by a complex mix of jihadist insurgency, criminal banditry and local conflicts rather than a targeted campaign against Christians. Critics have warned that portraying the crisis in sectarian terms risks inflaming religious tensions in Africa’s most populous country.
Nigeria is almost evenly split between a Muslim-majority north and a largely Christian south. Its northeast has endured more than 15 years of jihadist violence led by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million. Separately, armed criminal gangs, commonly referred to as bandits, have carried out widespread kidnappings and village raids across the northwest and central regions.
The US action also follows Washington’s decision earlier this year to place Nigeria back on its list of countries of “particular concern” over religious freedom, alongside visa restrictions imposed on Nigerian citizens.
The Christmas Day strikes occurred amid renewed insecurity across the country. Earlier in the week, an explosion at a mosque in Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria, killed at least seven worshippers. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
While Nigerian authorities have welcomed international cooperation against terrorism, the US strikes are likely to intensify debate over foreign military involvement, the religious framing of Nigeria’s security crisis, and the broader implications for US–Nigeria relations going into 2026.
130 kidnapped Nigerian students freed after one month in captivity
