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Saturday, December 27, 2025
The United States military launched airstrikes against Islamic State (IS)-linked militants in northwestern Nigeria late Thursday. American and Nigerian officials described the operation as a joint effort between the U.S. and Nigerian governments. It striked camps in Sokoto state near the border with Niger.
Nigerian Ministry of Information spokesperson Mohammed Idris, the strikes were launched from the Gulf of Guinea shortly after midnight using 16 GPS-guided missiles and MQ-9 Reaper drones. According to U.S. military, the targets were “Lakurawa” fighters, a group Nigerian authorities associated with jihadist networks in the Sahel region.
President Donald Trump confirmed the strikes on Friday stating he ordered it as a “Christmas present” to halt the “slaughtering of Christians.”, the strikes as “deadly” and “every camp got decimated.”
Nigerian foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told the BBC it was a “joint operation” relied on Nigerian intelligence and had “nothing to do with a particular religion.” Tuggar stated the planning had been underway “for quite some time” and involved coordination with U.S. officials.
U.S. officials reported “multiple” militant deaths following an initial assessment. Isa Salihu Bashir, a local official in the Tangaza area of Sokoto, said the strikes hit terrorist camps and killed many fighters. Bashir mentioned that border patrols in Niger observed fighters fleeing the targeted areas.
Residents of Jabo, Sokoto saw the sky glow red and were feeling intense heat. “It was almost like daytime,” Sanusi Madabo, a farmer in Jabo, told the Associated Press. Another resident, Abubakar Sani, said, “Our rooms began to shake, and then fire broke out.”
The Nigerian government told that debris from the munitions fell in Jabo and in Offa, a town in Kwara State approximately 600 kilometers south. Authorities reported no civilian casualties in either location.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted on X that the Pentagon is “always ready” and warned there was “more to come.” Tuggar also suggested more action could follow, calling the strikes a “new phase of an old conflict.”
The attack follows recent diplomatic tensions over regional security. The Trump administration had previously designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” for religious freedom and accused the government of failing to protect Christians. Tuggar rejected this saying the operation targeted terrorists who kill both Muslims and Christians, mentioning that Jabo residents are primarily Muslim.
Security analysts, such as Bulama Bukarti from Tony Blair Institute, said that the Lakurawa group is a newer security threat in the northwest, distinct from the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
