U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the American military strike against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Nigeria was initially planned to take place on Wednesday, but was postponed for one day on his order.
“They should have done it earlier. And I said, ‘No, let’s give them a Christmas gift.’ They didn’t think it was going to happen, but we hit them hard. Every camp was destroyed,” Trump said in an interview with Politico.
On Thursday, Trump announced that the United States had carried out airstrikes against ISIS members in northwestern Nigeria, in response to the group’s attacks against Christians in the region.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States of America launched a powerful and lethal strike against ISIS terrorist remnants in northwestern Nigeria, who are targeting and brutally killing, primarily innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years — even centuries,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said the strike was conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities and confirmed that several ISIS members were killed during the operation.
