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Attacks on Christians: Trump warns of more US strikes in Nigeria
Donald Trump says the US may carry out additional strikes in Nigeria if attacks on Christians continue, following Christmas Day missile strikes against Islamic State targets.
President Donald Trump has cautioned that the United States may carry out further military strikes in Nigeria if attacks on Christians continue.
Trump issued the warning in an interview with The New York Times (NYT) when asked whether the Christmas Day missile strikes against the Islamic State terror group marked the beginning of a broader military campaign.
The strikes occurred about a month after Trump had threatened to deploy US troops to Nigeria, vowing they would go in “guns-a-blazing to wipe out the terrorists killing our cherished Christians,” amid repeated claims by some US politicians that Christians were facing genocide in the West African nation.
However, Nigeria retained control over the decision-making for the single operation, according to Ademola Oshodi, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Foreign Affairs and Protocol.
After the strikes, Trump signalled that further action remained possible, a position he reaffirmed in the NYT interview published on Thursday.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump said. “But if they continue to kill Christians it will be a many-time strike.”
The Nigerian government has repeatedly rejected claims that Christians are being deliberately targeted for killings.
In October, Trump’s senior adviser on Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, said extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS were killing more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria.
Asked to respond to his adviser’s assessment, Trump said: “I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians.”
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