The U.S. has carried out a deadly Dec. 25 strike in northwestern Nigeria, with President Donald Trump stating the attack targeted Islamic State group terrorists who persecuted Christians in that nation.

"Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!" wrote Trump in a Dec. 25 post on his social media platform, Truth Social.

AFRICOM, the U.S. military's command in Africa, confirmed the attack in a Dec. 25 X post, saying it had launched the strike in Nigeria's Sokoto State "at the request of Nigerian authorities" -- with a revised version of the post saying that the attack had been launched under the direction of Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth "in coordination with Nigerian authorities."

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Trump, who had recently signaled the possibility of such a move, said in his Truth Social post that he had "previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was."

Describing the strikes as "numerous" and "perfect," Trump wrote, "Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.

"May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues," he added.

On Oct. 31, Trump had redesignated Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern," a classification under the U.S.'s 1998 International Religious Freedom Act indicating particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

Since a 2009 uprising by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, Nigeria -- largely split between Muslim and Christian faithful, with the former holding a slight majority -- has seen tens of thousands of Christians killed, with others subjected to kidnappings, torture and sexual violence.

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Other groups taking part in such atrocities include the ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) group and various Fulani militias.

A number of Catholics, including clergy and children, have been targeted by the groups.

Most recently, on Nov. 21, in one of the worst cases of kidnappings in the country's recent history, more than 300 children were taken at gunpoint, along with their teachers, from St. Mary's Catholic School in Papiri, in central Nigeria. After 50 managed to escape and were reunited with their families, and Nigeria secured the release of 100 more, church officials confirmed that the remaining 130 students were released Dec. 21, days before Christmas.

Christian persecution watchdog Open Doors International currently ranks Nigeria as the seventh worst country for Christians, noting in 2025 that attacks on them have expanded from the nation's Muslim-majority north to the country's Middle Belt "and even farther south."

An August report by Intersociety, a Catholic-inspired NGO, revealed that an average of 32 Christians are killed in Nigeria every day. The report indicated that as many as 7,000 Christians were massacred across Nigeria in the first 220 days of 2025. Another report published in October said that at least 185,000 people, including 125,000 Christians and 60,000 moderate Muslims, had been killed in Nigeria since 2009.

In January 2024, Genocide Watch -- which works to prevent and punish genocide and mass atrocities -- recommended that the United Nations and the Nigerian government should establish an independent investigative commission to assess attacks on both Christian and Muslim farmers. Genocide Watch also called for more robust efforts by Nigeria's army and police, as well as early warning monitoring by the nation's religious leaders.

Nina Shea, senior fellow and director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, pointed last month to the Nigerian government's failure to address attacks on Christians by Fulani militants, which she described as "long overlooked."

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During a November House subcommittee hearing on foreign affairs, Shea noted Nigeria's "multi-faceted terror problem," which she said has "devastated northern Muslim and Christian communities alike."

She welcomed Trump's redesignation of Nigeria as a CPC, and recommended disarmament of Fulani militias, sanctions, humanitarian aid and a "binding agreement with Nigeria to prevent Fulani herder violence and restore stolen Christian farmlands and property."