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The USA has in West Africa Nigeria Air strikes carried out. The operation was directed against militants from the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS) in the northwest of the country, said US President Donald Trump. The military intervention in Sokoto state was justified by the fact that the terrorist group had killed Christians in the region.
He had “previously warned these terrorists that if they didn’t stop killing Christians they would pay dearly, and tonight they paid for it,” wrote Trump on its online platform. They “targeted and brutally murdered, above all, innocent Christians,” Trump added – “on a scale not seen in many years, even centuries.” The “War Department” had “carried out numerous perfect attacks.”
According to US information, deployed at the request of Nigeria
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on Xthe killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria and elsewhere must end. He thanked the Nigerian government for their support and cooperation. Another government official said the military strike came at the request of the Nigerian authorities. Accordingly, several IS fighters were killed during the operation. As the Reuters news agency reported, they lead USA has been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over much of Nigeria since the end of November, according to flight tracking data and current and former US officials.
The Nigerian Foreign Ministry confirmed “precise airstrikes on terrorist targets in Nigeria” by the US overnight. Nigerian authorities continued to work “within structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States of America, to address the ongoing threat of terrorism and violent extremism,” the ministry said.
The operation has been prepared since November
Already at the beginning of November, the US President Nigeria threatened with military strikes over alleged persecution of Christians. If the Nigerian government does not take action against the “killing of Christians by Islamist terrorists,” the US military could invade “guns blazing,” wrote Trump seven weeks ago on its online platform. In addition, the USA would immediately stop all aid to the African country. In November, Trump ordered the US Department of Defense to prepare for a possible deployment. “If we attack, it will be quick, vicious and decisive,” he said.
Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rejected Trump’s allegations at the time. Characterizing Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect the reality in the country or takes into account the government’s efforts to protect the freedom of religion and belief of all Nigerians. “Nigeria rejects and does not promote religious persecution,” wrote Tinubu on X.
Christians and Muslims are affected by conflict
Nigeria is divided into a predominantly Muslim north and a largely Christian south. The most populous country in Africa is of numerous conflicts between different ethnicities and population groups embossed. Christians and Muslims are equally affected by the conflicts. Just yesterday a suspect died Suicide attack on a mosque in Nigeria at least five people and 35 others were injured. According to police, an attacker detonated an explosive device during evening prayers in the city of Maiduguri in the northeast of the country.
For years, among other things, this has been terrorizing Islamist militia Boko Haram the Nigerian population. In September, the jihadists killed in the northeast of the country at least 55 people. The group is fighting for the establishment of an Islamic state. For years, Boko Haram has also been carrying out attacks in the neighboring Central African countries of Chad and Cameroon. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the process.
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