The United States worked closely with the Nigerian government to carry out airstrikes on ISIS targets in Sokoto on Christmas Day, according to confirmation from US President Donald Trump.
Trump said, “We worked with them on Christmas Day in close coordination with the government of Nigeria, but they’ve got to get tougher,” during his remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
The strikes, he clarified, were meant to “decimate the ISIS terrorists who have been slaughtering Christians in that country by the thousands.”
“We hit them so hard they still don’t know what the hell happened,” Trump said, highlighting the importance of the timing. Additionally, we planned to do it on a separate day. “No, do it on Christmas,” I said. Thus, they comprehend it.
According to the US President, he gave specific orders for the operation to happen on December 25.
“I told Pete explicitly to hit them on Christmas Day, no before nor later. He really did hit them. Then, we recently struck them once more. Trump declared, “We hit them pretty hard again.”
The US Department of Defense claims that “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed in the attack, which was carried out at the request of Nigerian authorities.
After warning Islamic State militants to cease attacking Christians, Trump had earlier on December 26 declared that “powerful and deadly” strikes had been initiated against the group in northwest Nigeria.
Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, also attended the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual gathering of religious and political leaders from around the world.
Trump commended Mrs. Tinubu during his speech, calling her a “very respected woman” and recognizing her position as a Christian pastor in one of the biggest churches in Nigeria.
We are honored to have the First Lady of Nigeria, a highly esteemed woman who also serves as a Christian pastor at the country’s biggest church, visit us today. The audience applauded as Trump said, “Thank you very much, it’s a great honor, and a very respected person too.”
