‘Viciously killing innocent Christians’: Donald Trump orders deadly strikes on ISIS targets in Nigeria; signals more action

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had ordered a “powerful and deadly strike” against Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in northwest Nigeria, accusing the group of targeting and killing Christians in the region.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the strike was carried out “at my direction as Commander in Chief” and targeted ISIS militants whom he described as “terrorist scum”.


He alleged that the group had been “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even centuries”.


“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,” Trump wrote.

He added that the “Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing”.

Trump further said that under his leadership, the US would not allow “radical Islamic terrorism to prosper”. He concluded the post by saying, “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.”

Trump, in recent months, has repeatedly spoken about the situation of Christians in Nigeria. In November, he had called on his secretary of defence to “prepare for possible action” and warned that the US could enter Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to protect the Christian population in Africa’s most populous country, reported CNN.