US launches ‘powerful strikes’ against Islamic State in Nigeria, says Trump

President Donald Trump has said the US launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against the Islamic State (IS) group in north-western Nigeria.

In a post on Truth Social, the US president described IS as ” terrorist scum”, accusing them of “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”.

He said the US military “executed numerous perfect strikes”, without giving any further details. It is unclear what exactly targets were struck and when.

In November, Trump ordered the US military to prepare for action in Nigeria to tackle Islamist militant groups.

In his post late on Thursday, Trump said that “under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper”.

In his warning back in November, the US leader did not say which killings he was referring to – but claims of a genocide against Nigeria’s Christians have been circulating in recent months in some right-wing US circles.

Groups monitoring violence say there is no evidence to suggest that Christians are being killed more than Muslims in Nigeria, which is roughly evenly divided between followers of the two religions.

An adviser to Nigeria’s president told the BBC at the time that any military action against the jihadist groups should be carried out together.

Daniel Bwala said Nigeria would welcome US help in tackling the Islamist insurgents but noted that it was a “sovereign” country.