US Goes 'Guns-a-Blazing' in Nigeria to Kill 'ISIS Terrorists'

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Trump Nigeria attacks warning escalates as kidnappings surge and Washington launches Yemen-style military action

By TRH Foreign Affairs Desk

New Delhi, December 26, 2025 — US President Donald Trump announced airstrikes in Nigeria, aimed at “Islamic terrorists who are killing Christians in the African nation.” In a Truth Social post, Trump issued a stark warning over “attacks on Christians in Nigeria.”

“Tonight, ⁠at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike ‌against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria,” the US President announced.

Trump asserted that he had previously warned “these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.”

The US military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) shared details in a post on X. It added that the “the air strike was carried out at the request of Nigerian authorities.” The AFRICOM also claimed that “multiple ISIS terrorists were killed in the airstrikes.”

“Lethal strikes against ISIS demonstrate the strength of our military and our commitment to eliminating terrorist threats against Americans at home and abroad,” it added in a post on X.

Trump threatened to cut off aid and spoke of “swift military action to wipe out Islamic terrorists.”

The military strikes signal a dramatic escalation in rhetoric—and possibly policy—towards Africa’s most populous nation.

The Trump Nigeria attacks announcement does not emerge in a vacuum. Nigeria is currently facing a major explosion in kidnappings for ransom, with armed gangs, jihadist factions, and criminal syndicates blurring into one another.

From the northwest’s bandit belts to the Middle Belt and parts of the northeast, abductions of schoolchildren, priests, villagers, and commuters have surged. Ransom payments have become an underground economy, hollowing out state authority and exposing the limits of Abuja’s security apparatus.

By placing Nigeria in the same rhetorical frame as Yemen—already subjected to US military action under Trump—Washington is making it clear that counterterrorism patience is wearing thin.