The U.S. Strikes ISIS Targets in Nigeria 0 14

The United States carried out "multiple precision strikes" against the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group's targets in northwestern Nigeria, "which for many years, if not centuries, have brutally killed primarily innocent Christians," U.S. President Donald Trump stated on the night of Friday, December 26, on his social media platform Truth Social.

"I previously warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughter of Christians, they would pay a heavy price, and tonight that happened," the head of the White House explained the actions of the U.S. Department of Defense, promising that "under my leadership, our country will not allow radical Islamic terrorism to thrive."

In early November, Trump stated that he was considering various military options in Nigeria, including troop deployments and airstrikes. In December, he imposed a partial travel ban on citizens of that country entering the U.S.

As reported by the American television channel CNN, several mass killings on religious grounds occurred in Nigeria in 2025. In April, the president of the country, Bola Tinubu, stated that at least 40 people had died as a result of an attack by militants on a Christian farming community in the north of the country. In June, according to human rights activists, more than 100 people were killed in the village of Yelwat, whose population is predominantly Christian.

Hundreds of Schoolchildren Freed from Militants in Nigeria

The last 130 students of the Saint Mary’s Catholic boarding school out of 303 children kidnapped by militants in late November were freed on December 21, according to a statement from Nigeria's presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare. "Another 130 students kidnapped in Niger State have been released. No one remains in captivity," his message stated. Details of the students' release from the hands of militants were not disclosed in the post.

On November 22, the Association of Christians in Nigeria reported the kidnapping of 303 students and 12 teachers from the Saint Mary’s boarding school located in the settlement of Papiri in Niger State. It later became known that 50 hostages managed to escape from the militants. On December 7, the local television channel Channels Television, as well as the AFP agency, independently reported the release of one hundred children.

In Nigeria, armed gangs have been kidnapping people in rural areas of the northwestern and central parts of the country for ransom for many years. Thousands of people have died as a result of such attacks. The bandits hide in vast forested areas covering territories of several states.

The U.S. Strikes ISIS Targets in Syria

U.S. forces struck ISIS targets in Syria on the night of December 20. ISIS militants, as well as the group's infrastructure and weapon depots, were attacked, wrote Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on social media platform X. The targeted sites were located in central regions of Syria, with more than 70 sites struck in total, according to the AFP agency citing a U.S. Department of Defense representative.

According to Hegseth, the U.S. attack was a response to an ISIS militant's attack on a joint patrol of Syrian security services and American troops that occurred on December 13 in Palmyra. At that time, according to media reports, two U.S. Army soldiers, a civilian translator - also American - and two Syrians were killed.

Earlier, Donald Trump promised the Islamist group a "very serious" response to the attack. He also noted that Washington was in contact with Damascus - his statement implied that the Syrian authorities would not obstruct the U.S. response to the militants' actions.

DW