The United States carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria on Christmas Day, marking a significant escalation in U.S. military involvement following Washington’s recent designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over religious freedom violations.
U.S. Africa Command said the strikes were conducted Dec. 25 in Sokoto State, targeting ISIS camps, in coordination with Nigerian authorities and at the direction of the president and the U.S. secretary of war. Initial assessments indicated that multiple ISIS terrorists were killed, the command said.
“At the direction of the President of the United States and the Secretary of War, and in coordination with Nigerian authorities, U.S. Africa Command conducted strikes against ISIS terrorists in Nigeria,” the command said in a statement issued from Stuttgart, Germany. It added that further details would not be released to protect operational security.
Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander of U.S. Africa Command, said the operation was part of broader efforts to counter extremist violence. “U.S. Africa Command is working with Nigerian and regional partners to increase counterterrorism cooperation efforts related to ongoing violence and threats against innocent lives,” Anderson said. “Our goal is to protect Americans and to disrupt violent extremist organizations wherever they are.”
The strikes came weeks after President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern in late October, citing what he described as systematic persecution of Christians by extremist groups. The designation, made under the International Religious Freedom Act, followed mounting pressure from Christian advocacy organizations and renewed debate over the nature of violence in the country.
In a post on X on Dec. 25, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth linked the airstrikes directly to concerns over attacks on Christians. “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end,” Hegseth wrote. “The @DeptofWar is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come… Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation.”
Christian Daily International has previously reported that violence in Nigeria has persisted for decades, particularly in the Middle Belt and northern regions, where Islamist militant groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, have carried out attacks, kidnappings and mass killings. While Nigerian officials often frame the violence as driven by broader security failures or farmer-herder conflicts, Christian leaders and researchers have highlighted that Christians are disproportionately targeted.
Research cited by advocacy groups such as Open Doors and the Netherlands-based Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa indicates that Christians in Nigeria are significantly more likely to be killed in extremist attacks than Muslims, even in Muslim-majority areas. Between 2019 and 2023, those groups reported that Christian deaths far outnumbered Muslim fatalities linked to militant violence.
Trump, in announcing the CPC designation in October, said Christians in Nigeria faced an “existential” threat, pointing to the rise of Islamist extremist groups and what he described as inadequate protection by the Nigerian government. Nigeria was previously designated a CPC during Trump’s first term, a designation later lifted in 2021.
The Nigerian government has rejected claims that the violence constitutes targeted religious persecution, maintaining that both Christians and Muslims have suffered and that security conditions have improved in recent years. However, the strikes reflect Washington’s view that extremist violence in Nigeria raises both security and human rights concerns.
U.S. Africa Command said it would continue to assess the outcome of the operation and work with Nigerian and regional partners to counter violent extremist organizations operating in the country.
