Table of Contents
- The United States has carried out an air strike against ISIL (ISIS) fighters in northwest Nigeria, US President Donald Trump says, claiming that the armed group had “targeted and viciously” killed “primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!”
- Nigeria’s government has confirmed the attacks but dismisses Trump’s assertions, saying armed groups target both Muslim and Christian communities in the country, and US claims that Christians face persecution do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts by Nigerian authorities to safeguard religious freedom.
More on Trump’s comments on Nigeria attack
Shortly after the US’s strike on northwest Nigeria, US President Donald Trump went on the Truth Social social media platform to state that it was targeting “ISIS Terrorist Scum” that had been targeting and “viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”.
“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” Trump said without backing up his claims of the specific targeting of Christians.
“Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper. May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues,” he added.
What to know about the US air strike in northwest Nigeria
- The US has carried out a strike against what it said were ISIL (ISIS) fighters in northwest Nigeria. The military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto State in coordination with Nigerian authorities and killed multiple fighters.
- A video posted by the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launched from a warship.
- Nigeria’s foreign ministry said the strike was carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the US, involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target armed groups.
- Trump claimed fighters in northwest Nigeria “targeted and viciously” killed “primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!”
- The strike comes after Trump in late October began warning that Christianity faces an “existential threat” 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.
- Nigerian authorities did not mention ISIL specifically and said attacks in the northwest do not target a specific religious group.
- US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote “More to come …” on X, suggesting other strikes may follow.
Many Nigerians happy, but also worried about US strike on Sokoto State
A lot of Nigerians are happy about this strike, but also very, very suspicious, or rather very, very worried that this could be a long, drawn-out military operation by the US in Nigeria.
A lot of people have been complaining that the Nigerian authorities, although they said they do much, are unable to rein in armed groups from Boko Haram to ISIL, who we continue to see operating almost on a daily basis in several parts of Nigeria.
Currently, the Nigerian military is engaged in putting out fires in almost all the 36 states in the country.
In the north, the predominant crises are Boko Haram, ISIL attacks, banditry and kidnapping for ransom.
When you go to the southeast of the country, you find separatist movements that are fighting for an independent Biafra. If you go to the southern oil region, you find people stealing oil and violence erupting.
These are the conflicts the Nigerian government is dealing with.
Framing of US attack in Nigeria a ‘problem’
The Nigerian government confirmed that the strike was done in collaboration with the United States, with consultations with the Nigerian government.
However, the framing is what is becoming more of a problem now.
Donald Trump said they targeted ISIL in Sokoto State, which has been killing Christians and conducting Christian genocide in Nigeria.
But where the missiles landed is a Muslim-dominated state, and of course, many of the people who have been kidnapped for ransom or killed by the armed groups operating in that area are, in fact, targeting local Muslims.
Over 90 percent of the population is Muslim.
Nobody is certain where the American narrative came from. One of the things they said was that they targeted ISIL.
ISIL is not known to have any official base in the entire northwest of Nigeria – where you find ISIL in the northeast of the country.
Nigerian military confirms government involvement in US strike
Brigadier General Samaila Mohammed Uba has confirmed that the US strike was conducted with the approval of Nigerian authorities and following intelligence-sharing on the part of the government.
“The strike followed credible intelligence and careful operational planning aimed at degrading the capability of the targeted elements while minimising collateral damage,” Uba, who serves as director of Defence Information, said in a statement quoted by local news outlet The Guardian.
“The operation underscores the resolve of the Federal Government of Nigeria, working with strategic partners, to confront transnational terrorism and prevent foreign fighters from establishing or expanding footholds within Nigeria’s borders.”
Claim of Christian persecution in northwest Nigeria a ‘misrepresentation’
Trump has claimed that attacks in northwest Nigeria have killed “primarily, innocent Christians” and that the US strike was a direct consequence of that “slaughter”.
Peace and conflict analyst Bulama Bukarti said the US President’s characterisation of the violence taking place in that part of the country was a “fundamental misrepresentation of reality on the ground”.
“In the Sokoto State, 80 to 90 percent of the population is Muslim and when these attacks happen, they happen in the form of suicide attacks on markets where there is no discrimination between Muslims and Christians,” he said.
Bukarti welcomed the strike, but he said Nigerians “don’t see this as an effort to protect a specific religion but the whole of Nigeria and every Nigerian”.
The analyst added, however, that strikes have to be precise and “part of a broader strategy, because you cannot bomb your way out of these situations”.
Nigeria avoided naming ISIL in its confirmation of US strikes
The US strike in northwest Nigeria likely occurred with consent and participation of the Nigerian government, peace and conflict analyst Bulama Bukarti told Al Jazeera.
“The timing of the Nigerian government statement was immediately after the strike, which indicates that the government was aware,” he said.
But unlike the US, Bukarti said the Nigerian government avoided naming ISIL in the statement because it “is aware that there aren’t significant ISIS presence in that part of Nigeria.”
“In the northwest, what we have are criminal gangs, locally called bandits, and recently a popular group called Lakurawa,” he continued. “They are fighters that started pouring into Nigeria from the Sahel, but over the past 18 months to two years they have established themselves in the Sokoto and Kebbi State.”
“That’s what perhaps they call ISIS for an American audience, but the Nigerian state knows that there is no evidence linking the Lakurawa to ISIS. They may be linked to ISIS or they may be linked to al-Qaeda, nobody knows.”
Bukarti said ISIL’s presence is known in northeastern Nigeria in Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad, rather than the northwest.
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All about fighters targeted by US in Nigeria
The armed groups in Africa’s most populous country include at least two affiliated with ISIL – an offshoot of the Boko Haram group known as the Islamic State West Africa Province in the northeast, and the lesser-known Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP) known locally as Lakurawa and prominent in the northwest.
Although officials did not say exactly which group was targeted, security analysts said the target, if indeed against ISIL fighters, was likely members of Lakurawa, which became more lethal in border states like Sokoto and Kebbi in the last year, often targeting remote communities and security forces.
The Nigerian military has said in the past that the group has roots in neighbouring Niger and that it became more active in Nigeria’s border communities following a 2023 military coup. That coup resulted in fractured relations between Nigeria and Niger, and affected their multinational military operations along the porous border.
Multiple analysts have said Lakurawa has been active in northwest Nigeria since 2017 when it was invited by traditional authorities in Sokoto to protect their communities from bandit groups.
The fighters, however, “overstayed their welcome, clashing with some of the community leaders … and enforcing a harsh interpretation of sharia law that alienated much of the rural population,” according to James Barnett, an Africa researcher with the Washington-based Hudson Institute.
“Communities now openly say that Lakurawa are more oppressive and dangerous than the bandits they claim to protect them from,” according to Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher with Good Governance Africa.
Read our report on Lakurawa here.
Nigerian army patrol in Kuriga, Kaduna, Nigeria, March 9, 2024. [File: Sunday Alamba/AP] Recap of recent developments- President Donald Trump says the US has carried out a “powerful and deadly” air attack against ISIL (ISIS) fighters in northwest Nigeria.
- The Department of Defense’s US Africa Command says “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed in an attack in Sokoto State conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities.
- Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry confirms precision air strikes by the US have hit “terrorist targets”, saying it remains engaged with Washington in “structured security cooperation”.
- However, Nigeria’s government dismisses Trump’s assertions that ISIL kills mainly Christians, saying armed groups target both Muslim and Christian communities in the country, and US claims that Christians face persecution do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts by Nigerian authorities to safeguard religious freedom.
![[Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WEB-MAP-NIGERIA-SOKOTO-1000X562-1766711326.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C433&quality=80)
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