U.S. Strikes Hit ISIS-Linked Camps in Nigeria as Trump Hails Targets as 'Decimated'

Overview

• The United States fired more than ten Tomahawk missiles from a Navy ship in the Gulf of Guinea late on Dec. 25, hitting ISIS-affiliated camps in Sokoto state, including near Jabo.
• AFRICOM and Nigeria’s foreign ministry said the mission was coordinated using shared intelligence and resulted in multiple militant deaths, with fuller damage and casualty assessments still pending.
• Trump and the Department of War released strike footage, and the president later told Politico the camps were “decimated,” a claim not independently verified.
• Nigerian officials framed the mission as joint counterterrorism, contrasting with Trump’s justification that emphasized killings of Christians, as analysts stressed the conflict’s multifaceted drivers.
• Both governments signaled the possibility of further coordinated operations following this first Trump-era strike in Nigeria.