Back in November of 2025, President Donald Trump claimed he would go “guns-a-blazing” into Nigeria. Around a month later, on Dec. 25, 2025, the U.S. launched tomahawk missiles on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/Levant (ISIS) in Nigeria. The strikes were launched against ISIS terrorists, Trump claimed in a post on social media.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS terrorist scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing primarily innocent Christians at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries,” Trump said. “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. 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. 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.”
Contrary to what Trump claims in the post, Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar, while talking to the BBC World Service, said that the main reason for the strikes was different.
“What I can confirm is a joint operation between the US and Nigeria that has targeted terrorists. It has nothing to do with a particular religion. It is, as far as we’re concerned, targeting terrorists that have been attacking Nigerians,” Tuggar said.
These strikes were launched in cooperation with Nigerian officials, who helped provide intelligence throughout the operation. The missiles launched were targeting the Northwest part of Nigeria, particularly the state of Sokoto, where many ISIS terrorist training camps reside.
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said that “multiple ISIS terrorists were killed in the ISIS camps,” and Nigerian authorities said that no civilians were killed, therefore classifying the attacks as “successful.”
In the past decade, Nigeria has been struggling with a variety of different Jihadist groups like ISIS. These groups follow Jihadism, which is the belief that using violence is needed to reach their goal of creating a completely Islamic state. The Nigerian military has been attempting to push back against these groups, but in recent years there has been a rise in attacks in civilian places such as schools and mosques.
Overall, these strikes were made in cooperation with Nigeria, and welcomed as Nigerian officials were hopeful about trying to cease the terrorism that has been occurring.
