Nairobi (EFE).– Nigeria’s government and armed forces confirmed on Friday that they carried out joint air strikes with the United States against Islamic State targets in the country’s northwest, following an announcement by US President Donald Trump.
“The Nigerian Armed Forces, in collaboration with the United States of America, have successfully carried out precision strike operations against identified foreign elements linked to ISIS operating in the northwest zones of Nigeria,” said Armed Forces spokesperson Lieutenant General Samaila Uba.
Uba said the strikes were based on “reliable intelligence and careful operational planning,” with the objective of degrading the group’s operational capabilities while minimizing civilian harm.
In a separate statement, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country maintains “structured cooperation on security matters with international partners, including the United States,” to counter terrorism and violent extremism.
“This cooperation has resulted in precision air strikes against terrorist targets in northwest Nigeria,” the ministry said, adding that it includes intelligence-sharing, strategic coordination and other forms of support conducted in line with international law, respect for sovereignty and shared security commitments.
Trump claims strikes The confirmation came hours after Trump announced on Thursday that the United States had carried out a “powerful and deadly” attack on militant camps in northwestern Nigeria.
According to the Pentagon, the operation involved the launch of around a dozen Tomahawk missiles from a US Navy vessel deployed in the Gulf of Guinea, resulting in “multiple” casualties in Sokoto state, near the border with Niger.
In a message posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had previously warned the militants to halt what he described as a “slaughtering” of Christians.
“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 wrote.
“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 had previously accused Nigeria of allowing the mass killing of Christians, without providing evidence, designated the country as being “of particular concern” for religious freedom violations, and warned of a possible military intervention.
At the time, the Nigerian government said it took note of the remarks but stressed that the claims “do not reflect the reality on the ground.”
Violence in Nigeria Nigeria has faced a long-running insurgency, particularly in the northeast, where Boko Haram has waged attacks since 2009.
Violence escalated in 2016 with the emergence of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group aligned with the Islamic State militant network.
Both Boko Haram and ISWAP seek to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria, which has a predominantly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south.
The two groups have killed more than 35,000 people, many of them Muslims, and displaced about 2.7 million people, mainly in Nigeria but also in neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, according to official figures. EFE
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