‘Merry Christmas To All, Including Dead Terrorists’: Trump Says US Carried Out Multiple Deadly Strikes On ISIS In Nigeria | World News

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday (local time) that American forces had launched what he called a “powerful and deadly strike” against ISIS militants in northwestern Nigeria.

Announcing the operation on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump said that the attacks were in response to what he called the “brutal killing” of Christians in the region. He has repeatedly warned in recent months that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and accused authorities of failing to prevent violence against Christian communities.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and lethal offensive against the ISIS terrorist scum in northwestern Nigeria at levels not seen in years, even centuries, primarily targeting and brutally killing innocent Christians!” Trump wrote.

The US military’s Africa Command later confirmed on channel X that the attack was carried out at the request of Nigerian authorities and resulted in the deaths of several ISIS militants.

Trump said the United States would not tolerate extremist violence under his leadership. “I had previously warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughter of Christians there would be hell to pay, and that happened tonight,” he said.

He added that the strikes were conducted by what he referred to as the “Department of War”, saying, “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing. Under my leadership, our country will not allow radical Islamic terrorism to prosper.”

“I have previously warned these terrorists that there would be hell to pay if they did not stop the slaughter of Christians, and tonight it happened. The War Department has carried out numerous perfect strikes as only the United States can. Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to thrive. God bless our Military and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists; there will be many more if their massacres of Christians continue,” Trump said.

Trump made a controversial statement wishing everyone, including the militants killed in the attacks, a “Merry Christmas” and adding that “there will be a lot more” if attacks on Christians continue.

The Nigerian government has previously stated that armed groups in the country target both Muslims and Christians and disputed claims that the violence was directed only at a single religious group. Officials said such claims oversimplified the complex security situation and ignored efforts to protect religious freedom.

However, Nigeria agreed to work with the United States to strengthen its security forces against militant organizations, Reuters reported.

Nigeria’s population is widely divided between the Muslim-majority north and the Christian-majority south; Insurgency and criminal violence are causing ongoing challenges in various regions.