Following President Trump’s directive, the United States conducted precision strikes on Christmas Day against Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist camps in northwest Nigeria’s Sokoto State.
The operation, coordinated with Nigerian authorities and described by U.S. Africa Command as successful in killing multiple ISIS militants, was labeled by the administration as a direct response to the group’s targeting and killing of innocent Christians in the region, claims Trump highlighted in a Truth Social post calling the militants “ISIS Terrorist Scum.”
Nigerian officials confirmed the joint action based on shared intelligence, emphasizing it targeted foreign-linked elements rather than any religious group.
However, questions persist regarding the long-term strategic impact, potential civilian risks in a conflict-prone area dominated by banditry and hybrid crime-terror threats (including groups like Lakurawa with varying ISIS ties), the accuracy of intelligence linking violence primarily to Christian persecution, and whether this marks the start of escalated U.S. involvement in Nigeria’s northwest security challenges.
Who was involved?
U.S. President Donald Trump was the first to publicly announce the strikes on Christmas Day (December 25, 2025), posting on Truth Social that he had directed 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!”
The announcement initially sparked widespread concern in Nigeria, with many citizens and social media commentators expressing alarm at a potential unilateral violation of national sovereignty.
Hours later, both governments clarified the operation’s collaborative nature. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) confirmed the strikes were conducted “in coordination with Nigerian authorities,” while Nigerian officials, led by Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar and Information Minister Mohammed Idris, emphasized that President Bola Tinubu had given explicit approval following consultations, including intelligence-sharing discussions with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Nigerian military played an active role in the effort, with Idris stating that the precision strikes were executed with the “full involvement of the Armed Forces of Nigeria,” supervised by key defense and foreign affairs leaders. This joint framing helped ease early tensions, positioning the action as targeted counterterrorism cooperation rather than foreign intervention.
Who was targeted?
Washington said it targeted militants linked to the Islamic State group, and the US Africa Command said there were multiple casualties, without providing details of precise targets among the multiple armed groups operating in Nigeria.
But Nigeria said two major Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist enclaves located within the Bauni forest in Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto state, were struck.
Analysts questioned the choice of striking northwestern Sokoto state, where armed criminal gangs — known as “bandits” — are a bigger concern than jihadists, who may not even have been hit by the strikes.
She said a more obvious target would have been northeastern Borno state, the epicentre of Nigeria’s jihadist conflict.
However, US and Nigerian officials have said that there will be more strikes to come.
How were the strikes conducted?
The US used guided missiles launched from large Reaper drones kept on “maritime platforms domiciled in the Gulf of Guinea”, said Abuja, with some munitions debris falling in Jabo village of Tambuwal Local Government Area in Sokoto state, as well as in nearby Kwara state, near a hotel.
“A total of 16 GPS-guided precision munitions were deployed using MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial platforms, successfully neutralising the targeted ISIS elements attempting to penetrate Nigeria from the Sahel corridor,” Information Minister Mohammed Idris said in a statement, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.
“The strikes were launched from maritime platforms domiciled in the Gulf of Guinea, after extensive intelligence gathering, operational planning, and reconnaissance,” Idris added, in comments that seemed to match a video released by Washington of projectiles being launched by a navy ship bearing an American flag.
Other reports in the US media state that the strikes were launched from a U.S. Navy warship positioned in the Gulf of Guinea (off the West African coast). U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) conducted the operation in coordination with Nigerian authorities, who provided intelligence and approved the action.
A Pentagon-released video showed at least one missile launch from the warship.
The primary weapons, as per reports, were Tomahawk cruise missiles, a long-range, precision-guided, sea-launched missile typically fired from U.S. Navy surface ships or submarines. Reports consistently cite that over a dozen Tomahawk missiles were fired.
No manned aircraft or ground forces were involved in the strikes.
This was a stand-off naval missile strike, not close-air support or drone strikes (unlike some prior U.S. counterterrorism ops in Africa). It followed weeks of Trump administration rhetoric warning of action over alleged persecution of Christians, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hinted at potential follow-up strikes (“more to come”).
No civilians were injured, according to the Nigerian government.
Nigeria has been battling a jihadist insurgency in its northeast since 2009, waged by Boko Haram and rival offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province.
Several other groups, some of them associated with the northeastern jihadists, have established themselves in the northwest.
Some researchers have recently linked an armed group known as Lakurawa — the main jihadist group located in Sokoto State — to Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), which is mostly active in neighbouring Niger and Mali, although others are doubtful.
Research on Lakurawa is complicated, as the term has been used to refer to various armed groups in the northwest.
Fears are also growing that another powerful Sahel jihadist group, Al-Qaeda affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), might establish itself in Nigeria following an attack claimed by its fighters on the Nigeria-Benin border in October.
What about the timing?
Trump unexpectedly turned on Nigeria in October and November, accusing its government of allowing a “genocide” of Christians — a framing that has long been used to describe the country’s myriad conflicts by the US and European religious right.
The Nigerian government and independent analysts reject the accusations, pointing out that Nigeria’s multiple, sometimes overlapping conflicts have killed Muslim and Christian civilians alike.
Following weeks of intelligence gathering, including US reconnaissance flights tracked by open source analysts, the timing of the strikes on Christmas Day may be significant.
“The fact that it was Christmas when we were trying to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ” suggests Trump “has his own agenda, and … he’s focused on Christians,” said Ekhomu.
- By Agence France-Presse
- Edited by ET Online Desk
