US targets Daesh in Nigeria after Trump warns of attacks on Christians
Nigeria: Terrorists target both Muslims, Christians
The United States carried out a strike against Daesh terrorists in Nigeria, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in the region.
Camps run by the group in Sokoto state, which lies on Nigeria's border with Niger, were hit, the US military said, adding that an "initial assessment" suggested "multiple" fatalities.
US President Donald Trump said the Christmas Day strikes were "powerful and deadly" and labelled the group "terrorist scum", saying it had been "targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians".
Nigeria’s government confirmed the attacks but dismissed 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. The director of the non-profit Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) also dismissed Trump’s narrative that a strike was necessary to prevent a “slaughter” of Christians in Nigeria.
“Muslims are being killed and harassed every day by the same criminals,” Auwal Musa Rafsanjani was quoted as saying by the local Leadership news outlet. “This conversation should be about human life, not religion or geography.” Rafsanjani said Nigerians of any religion are victims of terrorism and warned that claiming otherwise could ignite ethnic or religious tensions.
The director stressed that any intervention, local or foreign, must prioritize accuracy, accountability and protection of innocent lives. The US military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto state and killed multiple Daesh terrorists. Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar told BBC the strike was a "joint operation" targeting "terrorists", and it "has nothing to do with a particular religion".
Without naming Daesh specifically, Tuggar said the operation had been planned "for quite some time" and had used intelligence information provided by the Nigerian side. He did not rule out further strikes, adding that this depended on "decisions to be taken by the leadership of the two countries". Tuggar said the strikes had been planned "for quite some time" and had used intelligence information provided by Nigeria. He also did not rule out further strikes.
The Nigerian government has for several years been fighting a complex network of terrorist groups, which includes Boko Haram and Daesh-linked splinter groups, but largely in the north-east of the country, hundreds of miles away from Sokoto state.