By Desire Emmanuel
President Donald Trump has said the United States launched “powerful and deadly strikes” against the Islamic State (IS) group in Northwestern Nigeria.
The US leader described IS as “terrorist scum,” accusing the group of “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.”
Trump said the US military “executed numerous perfect strikes,” while the US Africa Command (Africom) later reported that Thursday’s attack was carried out in coordination with Nigeria in Sokoto state.
“Tonight at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS terrorists in Northwest Nigeria who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians at level not seen for many years and even centuries.
“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.
“The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing so.”
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar also confirmed the strikes, saying it was a “joint operation” targeting “terrorists,” and it “has nothing to do with a particular religion”.
Tuggar did not rule out further strikes, saying this depended on “decisions to be taken by the leadership of the two countries.”
In his post on Truth Social late on Thursday, Trump said that “under my leadership, our country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.”
