By Johnathan Paoli
President Donald Trump has ordered what he described as “powerful and deadly” US military strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in north-western Nigeria, marking the first direct US attack in the country under his presidency and intensifying a controversial diplomatic and security campaign focused on alleged persecution of Christians.
The strikes were carried out on Thursday in Sokoto state at the request of the Nigerian government, according to the US Department of Defense’s Africa Command (Africom).
Africom said “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed during the operation, which it described as being conducted in close coordination with Nigerian authorities. No casualty figures were released, and neither side provided details on the specific targets hit.
Trump announced the attack in a series of posts on his Truth Social platform on Christmas Day, using inflammatory language to justify the action.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United
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