American troops may be deployed on the ground after President Trump’s bombing of ISIS targets, a Nigerian official has suggested.
The foreign affairs minister said his government had not ruled out working with US servicemen, something Trump has suggested in recent weeks.
Yusuf Tuggar said the issue would be something for the Nigerian government to ‘consider’, when asked by CNN about Trump’s threats to send in the US military ‘guns-a-blazing’ this week.
On Thursday the Pentagon said the Nigerian government approved the strikes and collaborated with the US military to carry them out.
However, the official also pushed back on Trump’s justification for the strikes, which he has said were because ISIS terrorists in Nigeria have been ‘targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.’
Tuggar rejected the framing of the conflict as a religious one, and said the action ‘would show clearly that it is a strike against terrorism … and that it is not to do with religion, is to do with protecting Nigerians and innocent lives.’
‘When you try to reduce it to just say, ‘Oh, no, it’s Muslims killing Christians in Nigeria,’ you see how you can get it completely wrong. It’s a regional conflict,’ he told Nigerian broadcaster Channels Television on Friday.
Donald Trump announced a ‘powerful and deadly’ Christmas Day strike on ISIS ‘terrorist scum’ in Nigeria and warned that radicals will continue to pay for the persecution of Christians
A video posted by the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launched from a warship. A US defense official said the strike targeted multiple militants at known ISIS camps
Trump announced the ‘powerful and deadly’ strike on ISIS ‘terrorist scum’ in Nigeria on Christmas Day, and warned that radicals will continue to pay for the persecution of Christians.
The president, who previously threatened to send the US military to the West African nation ‘guns-a-blazing,’ made the announcement in a Truth Social post Thursday evening.
‘Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, 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!’ he wrote.
Nigeria’s foreign ministry said the strikes were carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the United States, involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has also said that the country ‘welcomes’ the US help.
However, the strikes divided opinions in Congress, as Democrat Rep. Debbie Dingell said Congress received ‘very little’ information on Trump’s move.
Dingell described the lack of information sharing from the White House as a ‘continuing pattern,’ and said she believes it is Congress that ‘needs to be making a lot of these decisions about escalating.’
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has said that the country ‘welcomes’ the US help
Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton, who has been a top defender of Trump’s strikes on Venezuelan drug boats, praised the actions in Nigeria and said he supported them.
‘I commend President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and our brave troops for these strikes against bloodthirsty ISIS savages who are not only persecuting Christians, but also have killed many Americans,’ Cotton, a former army officer who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, wrote on X.
A US defense official said the strikes targeted multiple militants at known ISIS camps.
Trump said in his lengthy post that the ISIS militants have had it coming for some time.
‘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. Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper,’ Trump added.
Nigeria has been roiled by internal violence in the wake of a jihadist insurgency spearheaded by extremist group Boko Haram in the northeast since 2009
The president signed off with a warning for the terrorists that they will continue to pay if the murder of innocent Christians goes on.
‘May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.’
The president’s post did not include information about how the strike was carried out and what effects it had and the White House did not immediately provide further details.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth affirmed the president’s message in a social media post of his own.
‘The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end. The @DeptofWar is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come… Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!’
