The United States signalled possible further military action in northwestern Nigeria after Christmas airstrikes on militant camps, with President Donald Trump framing the moves as aimed at stopping the killing of Christians.
The US has signalled the possibility of further military action against Islamic State targets in northwestern Nigeria, hours after American forces carried out airstrikes on militant camps in the region, moves framed by Donald Trump as efforts to halt the killing of Christians.
The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, wrote on X, “The president was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end. The [Pentagon] is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. More to come … Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”
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The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end.
The @DeptofWar is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come…
Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation.
Merry Christmas! https://t.co/k5Q3Qd4ClE
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) December 25, 2025Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said on Friday that the US strikes were “part of joint ongoing operations”. The action followed a diplomatic dispute after Trump accused Nigeria’s government of failing to stop Christians from being killed in the country.
Trump said on Friday that a US military strike targeting Islamic State militants in Nigeria had originally been planned for Wednesday but was delayed by a day on his orders.
“They were going to do it earlier,” Trump told Politico in an interview. “And I said, ‘nope, let’s give a Christmas present.’ They didn’t think that was coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp got decimated.”
Coordination with Nigerian authoritiesNigeria is officially secular, with a population that is almost evenly split between Muslims (53%) and Christians (45%). Violence against Christians has drawn attention from the religious right in the US, which has framed it as persecution, and Trump’s supporters broadly welcomed the strikes. Nigeria’s government has said that armed groups target both Christians and Muslims.
Nigeria provided intelligence for the airstrikes in Sokoto State, Tuggar told Channels Television on Friday. He said he spoke to his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, for 19 minutes before calling the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, to seek approval, and then spoke to Rubio again for another five minutes.
“We have been working closely with the Americans,” Tuggar said. “This is what we’ve always been hoping for, to work with the Americans, to work with other countries, to combat terrorism, to stop the death of innocent Nigerians … It’s a collaborative effort.”
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The US military’s Africa Command said the strikes in Sokoto state were carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities. An earlier statement posted on X and later removed said the strikes had been conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities.
