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29-12-2025
PALM BEACH/ LAGOS: US-backed air strikes in Nigeria hit two Islamic State-linked camps in the Bauni forest of Sokoto State, targeting foreign fighters infiltrating from the Sahel, the Nigerian government said.
The strikes carried out on Thursday were approved by President Bola Tinubu and launched from maritime platforms domiciled in the Gulf of Guinea, after extensive intelligence gathering, operational planning, and reconnaissance, the information ministry said in a statement on Friday.
US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on Thursday that US forces had launched a strike against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria’s government. He said the group had been targeting Christians in the region.
“A total of 16 GPS-guided precision munitions were deployed using MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial platforms, successfully neutralizing the targeted ISIS elements attempting to penetrate Nigeria from the Sahel corridor,” the Nigerian government statement said.
Intelligence indicated the camps were being used by foreign ISIS elements working with local affiliates to plan large-scale attacks inside Nigeria, it added. No civilian casualties were reported, although debris fell in two towns in Sokoto and Kwara states. Trump described the operation as “numerous perfect strikes” and warned there would be “more to come.”
The operation marks a rare joint action between Abuja and Washington and underscores growing security cooperation as Islamist violence spreads south from the Sahel.
Sokoto State authorities confirmed the strikes and urged residents to remain calm. “The ongoing operations are geared towards securing the state and ensuring the protection of lives and property,” the state government said.
Nigeria has battled Islamist insurgents for more than a decade, but the presence of foreign fighters linked to ISIS signals an escalation in the threat. The Nigerian government said it remains “fully committed to the protection of lives and property” and vowed further action against transnational extremist networks.
The United States carried out a strike against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria’s government, President Donald Trump and the US military said on Thursday, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in the region.
“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 in a post on Truth Social.
The US military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto state in coordination with Nigerian authorities and killed multiple ISIS militants.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar told the British Broadcasting Corp the strike was a “joint operation” targeting “terrorists”, and it “has nothing to do with a particular religion”.
Without naming ISIS specifically, Tuggar said the operation had been planned “for quite some time” and had used intelligence information provided by the Nigerian side. He did not rule out further strikes, adding that this depended on “decisions to be taken by the leadership of the two countries”.
The strike comes after Trump in late October began warning that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities. (Int’l News Desk)
