The United States has carried out long-range missile strikes in northwest Nigeria, with video released by the U.S. Department of Defense showing Tomahawk cruise missiles being launched from the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Paul Ignatius in the eastern Atlantic.

President Donald Trump announced the operation late on 25 December, stating:

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria.” He described the targets as “ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.”

Footage posted by the U.S. appears to show BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) being fired from the destroyer’s forward launcher. The Pentagon has not confirmed how many missiles were used or provided detail on target locations, damage assessments, or casualties.

Trump added: “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.”

The U.S. government has not released an official briefing beyond the President’s statement and the missile launch footage. Nigerian authorities have not yet publicly commented on the strike.

The U.S. has acknowledged previous counter-ISIS operations in West Africa, supporting regional forces, but this appears to be the first confirmed use of ship-launched Tomahawk missiles in Nigeria. The administration presented the strike as a response to recent attacks attributed to ISIS-affiliated militants.

Trump said: “Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.”

George Allison
George Allison
George Allison is the founder and editor of the UK Defence Journal. He holds a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and specialises in naval and cyber security topics. George has appeared on national radio and television to provide commentary on defence and security issues. Twitter: @geoallison
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88 COMMENTS

      • A $30 trillion economy growing at an annual rate of 4.3% in the third quarter. What’s your definition of booming?
        Do you mean the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor files?

        • The only real growth in the US economy revolves around AI and all the development around it, like immense investment in server farms. To the ordinary Joe however none of this helps the dollar in his pocket, or stops inflation and the costs (tax) of tariffs to them. The job situation is dire job losses comparable to the Depression and as bad as Covid, health costs are about to go up for the poor to average user frighteningly and unaffordable, farmers are having to be subsidised to stay in business because they have lost their export markets, the debt is still going up substantially not just despite, but because of the Big Beautiful Bill Trump introduced and infrastructure is in an increasing appalling state from decades of neglect, that is almost third World by European standards and even looks bad by UK standards despite their debt levels being one of the highest.

          Otherwise the economy is doing just fine. Yes they have headline growth we can only dream of, but as the Wall Street Journal reported a couple years back they had a Goldilocks Economy under Biden but look how that was perceived by the voter at the election. Problem is the Dollar as the prime Reserve currency, which so fuelled their growth since the war and gave them a false economic advantage, indeed dictatorship over trade (despite their hypocritical whining now) is now strangling them which is why they have gone for a desperate move in tariffs which only hits the poor to average earner even worse, to feed the very wealthy that so skews the perception of wealth in the Country to the outsider. So much of the positivity in the stock market is influenced by the AI technology bubble and effective Ponzi schemes and snake oil businesses like those of Musk where nearly their whole value is based on imaginary future value that for many will never actually be achieved through actual product but artificially gives them huge value in the markets today from which they can extract immense wealth. The US economy fundamentally relies on that never ending, which is a dangerous place to be if the delusion ever wanes and the Govt runs out of the funds due to that increasing debilitating debt to invest massively in keeping it fuelled. Musk’s wealth and value of his Companies is almost entirely reliant on Govt cash one way or another and the Market value it has generated has made many rich on mostly fluff and perception even as not a single goal has ever been met in reality. It lasts as long as sentiment supports myth, but tell that to the people in America who are increasingly only feeling the pain. Thus the Govt to maintain the momentum has decided to exploit the rest of the World threatening and forcing them to invest and finance the bubble economy they have created and try to keep its own population onside by convincing them all is just fine a new Golden age is around the corner. How do they maintain the lie?

          Well it’s in my view (indeed amongst many far more integrated into US politics than me) one of the major reasons is that the far right are deeply scared of the electorate, are so intent on manipulating them by employing the long developed conceptual thinking from the likes of Bannon, Peter Thiel and Project 2025 that they have the vital goal of taking eventual total control over all mechanisms of societal control at all levels so that the elite can continue their wealth generation with a compliant, brutalised workforce/population that has as much influence through democratic tools like elections as they do in Russia to stop them. This is already well in progress indeed which shows they have no faith in ‘their’ economy being enough to convince them to stay onboard. That will be Trump and co’s legacy for this ‘successful economy’ some seem so naively enamoured with. Thankfully gradually at first but in a landslide the majority of people in the US aren’t so convinced by the ‘4.3%’ headline illusionary mush, that populist delusional fog is clearing rapidly now and they are seeing the myth of any real gain for them through trickle down. How that all works out however as the Administration becomes more desperate to keep them at bay, intimidate and suppress descent while trying to maintain the smoke and mirrors of booming greatness to their core support. Note that golden age has stopped being from Day One to some unspecified time in the future if only they stay patient and keep taking the Koolaid…. While in reality they attempt to use that time to take away any chance the people or opponents can do anything about it leaving them free to establish the ultimate technological tyranny that keeps them not only super wealthy but for many out of jail.

    • It’s the Democrats who have to hide from the Epstein files.

      Pretty sure senile, hair sniffing Biden didn’t release the files during his tenure.

      • Yawn!

        Because the Epstein investigation was still live, and you don’t release such information whilst an investigation is still ongoing.

        Furthermore, Biden simply didn’t get involved in the Epstein Files because that’s the courts’ role, not his. Biden stayed in his lane.

        It’s Trump who ran for office on the promise of releasing the Epstein files. All these redactions paint a damning picture of him.

        • Yawn….

          Because the investigation was still live

          All those redactions are about Trump

          Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

          • I didn’t say that. I said it hardly paints him in a good light.

            Please try reading my comment properly – as much as MAGA Trumptards are actually able to read, I mean.

                • No it’s not.

                  It’s an invention by MAGA morons against people opposed to Trump, despite the fact tha they’re obviously the deranged ones, wearing his red hats, gold shoes, golden signed bibles, wearing gauze over their ear etc.

                  MAGA are utter freaks, without exception.

      • Do you know why? No clearly you don’t otherwise you wouldn’t have expressed such bs. Either way If it is so bad for the Democrats rather than Trump and the Republicans he would have released then from week one as promised so he could get elected. Why did Bondi say to a House Committee she would release them then claim days later they don’t exist. We now see they do exist (what ever Govt attempts to hide them) so why is this liar still in the job? Why is the President who has been shown as a liar in these released files still in a job. And that’s just in the stuff they have not covered up or destroyed. And why like Clinton hasn’t Trump declared that all files should be released and don’t redact the perpetrators? Some eyes will never be opened it seems.

  2. Killing islamists that have been murdering and kidnapping Christians for years now? I couldn’t think of a better Christmas present for the Nigerian Christian population

        • But he’s not doing it for the benefit of the Nigerian people, it’s a distraction from a huge inflation and all the other toxic stuff he creates . I’m sure Pete Hegseth was annoyed, he was planning on downing 3 bottles jack yesterday, because of work only got through 2.

          • US inflation rate 2025 – 2.74%. UK inflation rate 2025 3.2%.
            US gasoline (petrol) lowest per gallon since May 2021.
            US has witnessed a decline of 1.1 million illegal alien workers since January 2025.
            Really toxic stuff.

            • Yes the prices Americans pay at the supermarket are astronomical compared to the other side of the Atlantic. But yeah making Making America Crap Again.

              • Facts are facts. Just because you won’t accept them, doesn’t mean they aren’t real. How much do you pay on the decrepit side of the pond for petrol, housing, communications and transportation? The UK is already crap.

            • Question: Isn’t that what they do in Russia?? keep the price of Gasoline (petrol) down just to keep the Plebs happy??

          • What kind of fake news outlets are you reading to come to this conclusion?
            US inflation is finally under control after a year of Trump. Biden had inflation at 7.5% in January 2022, a month BEFORE the Ukraine war kicked off.

              • I’m detecting a serious case of TDS here. What I’ve stated is easily verifiable by anyone with access to google. There are countless news articles, American and British and more, that cover this. And your mate “Steve R” tagging on with his insults is just very typical of what we’ve come to expect of the left. Somewhat ironic insult too, given how wrong you both are here.

                • I’m not left leaning at all, have and will always vote to the centre right. The current US administration picks and chooses what data it want to show to suit it’s narrative. Sure, the head of the Bureau for Labour Stastics was fired because she gave bad job numbers. But believe what you want. We live in a post truth age now thanks to people like you.

        • I dont like trump and i dont agree with the majority of his decisions but again, I’m ok with dead terrorists, you cant negotiate with them and if Daesh rebuild their strength they’re going to be a huge problem again.

          I dont mind his “anti drug operations” in South America but if he was legitimately going after drugs, he should be working and coordinating attacks with the governments of Mexico and Columbia, those countries are the problem, not shooting boats without giving evidence they’re drug smugglers, plus I’m sure I read somewhere most of the drugs from Venezuela end up in Europe.

          But we all know what hes after in Venezuela.

        • Or us Nigerians who never asked for international intervention too.

          What happened to not wanting to police the world anymore?

          Anyway, everyone is allowed an opinion I guess

    • I note that Kemi Badenoch has a Nigerian heritage. Wiki says she describes herself an agnostic, a ‘cultural Christian’: her maternal grandfather was a Methodist preacher. Wiki makes an interesting read. Nigeria was evangelised mostly by Anglicans. Under British rule we decided not to try to convert Muslims in the northern states, where slavery continued after we enforced it’s abolition in the southern coastal states; and where it now appears that Sharia law has displaced the secular legal system.

    • They have been killing Moslems too of course, which is why the Nigerians played it as against terrorists not defining it as Moslems against Christians, you know to try to prevent an even worse religious war in the Country. Sadly Trump of course isn’t that bright, or maybe just doesn’t care.

    • Well this gives him an excuse to kill lots of blacks and not be condemned as a racist. Whereas it’s a bit more difficult for him to fire Tomahawks at LA or New Orleans or Harlem, but if there’s a way, he’ll find it…

        • Fortunately SCOTUS has ruled his use of the National Guard in cities as illegal… but I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to disband it at some point and to subsume its powers given he seems to regard the Constitution as an inconvenience.

  4. Nigeria has a population of over 220million which is projected to grow to 375 million by 2025. Nigeria is an economic leader in Africa rich in natural resources and has significant (US Evangelical) oil reserves 🙂

  5. My question is does lobbing tomahawk missiles at a few Islamist, tribal foot soldiers with AK47s do anything for that region at all..because the sad truth is there is always another killer with a gun. If it was a strike against a leading figure go for it, there will be no tears, if it was working in conjunction with the government or not.. because Nigeria is at a bit of a balance point at present, but Nigeria is still pro western and hurling tomahawks into it if it was not planned with the government would be a good way to help it move anti western.

    • We could always het the CIA involved. That would be a guaranteed way to give Taliban control of Nigeria. I don’t think we need to worry though. I’m expecting the DIP to announce that we are fitting Mk41 and Tomahawk to the West Africa Squadron Batch 2 Rivers.

      • It’s not what I think, It’s what I know. You can see it here, you can see it on the TV and any News source as well as History down the ages.

        You’re probably biased towards all other religions ?

          • Nothing Biased in knowing that Religion just causes death and division. I’m a realist who understands the error of your thinking and need to belong.
            Bah bah.

            • Next you’ll be telling me WW1, WW2, the Korean War and the Falklands War were caused by religion. I’ve heard plenty of people like you all arguing the same repetitive thing over and over and over while not backing it up without going back 1000 years to the Crusades.

              Or better yet, bringing up more modern religious schisms and conflicts which have nothing to do with Christianity, yet Christianity, as a religion, is still “bad”.

              I mean I’m probably correct in guessing you don’t go near any centres of worship and aren’t practicing any religion so what do you even actually know?

              Probably not *quite* as much as you loudly declare you do.

              • Deary me, there’s all that Religious anger comming out again.

                As you can tell, I’m not religious or political because I have a brain and I see all the hate and death that they cause.

                You are just underlining it rather clearly here.

                Which religion are you a sheep member of ? Which of the 3000 Gods do you worship ? Why Is your God/religion the only one that matters ? Why do you have this hate in you ? Why do you hate on people that see through all this stupidity ?

  7. This is the first time anyone has stuck up for Christianity, let alone brought the anti-Christian murders (which have been happening since apartheid was abolished) into the Western media.

    We’ve been ignoring, disregarding and excusing these murders for a LONG time, as our culture has become ever more pro-Islam.

    • The problem is that the atrocities take place in what is now a post colonial sovereign country. We can’t just waltz in. Also, it is not as if Orthodox Christian Russia is lily white when it comes to bombing maternity wards and kidnapping children. And Israeli prisons are not exactly holiday camps for Palestinian prisoners. Secular state rulers have always appropriated faith and religion in order to control the population. Many nations like the UK have state Churches, Putin, with the help of his KGB mate Kyrill, has hijacked the Russian Orthodox church. China is attempting to control the spread of Christianity – they fear people who exercise their free will to manage their own souls; they pose a danger to autocratic communism. In the UK the established church, although it has delegated self governance ( like the Post Office, and we know how that worked out) owes its allegiance to the state. So if Parliament decides gay marriage and ‘assisted’ dying are legal then ‘British Christianity’ must eventually fall into line. Now, in order to avoid social unrest and in an attempt to foster a society which values ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ successive governments have chosen ( as Britain did in Nigeria) to permit Islam a great deal of latitude in the practice of their faith. Parliament does what the electorate vote for. The British people have chosen to worship a combination of liberal democracy and consumerism as their ‘god’. The problem is that this ‘faith’ makes you as an individual and us a nation, weaker. That is why the UK is declining and also incidentally also why the EU is so weak – at the time of the Lisbon Treaty they declined a proposal to recognize the Christian heritage of Europe in the Treaty – they denied their identity. So while true Christianity in this country gets weaker, Islam gets stronger. Liberal democracy and consumerism are no match for Islam, which is a militant religion. It is no surprise that we hear protesters on our streets chanting ‘globalise the intifada’. The labour government, as we know, ‘doesn’t do God.’ Where is Isabela of Castile when you need her?

        • Alternatively…. James 1:28 “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

        • Or, simply, Religion = bollocks.

          My wife is pregnant with our first child, after we’ve been trying for 4 years, and then when she was 10 weeks pregnant we find out she has cancer.

          Pregnant women with cancer and kids with cancer: any god that allows shit like that is simply not worthy of worship.

      • My theory is that we’re receiving cheap oil and probably other comforts in return for influencing our culture to be more pro-Islam.

        However, given how demographics in certain areas (such as Yorkshire) are changing in the space of one generation, imagine what things are going to be like in another generation; especially after Starmer hit his “guaranteed votes brainwave” of removing the child benefit cap.

        His plans is to have a massive chunk of the population voting Labour forever and ever amen; unfortunately they’ll be voting for a new party more representative of themselves and their culture.

        Modern Western politicians must be under hypnotic control if they can’t see this coming.

        • All parties will curry favour with voters. Sometimes you have to trade with different cultures to survive; the Islamic Middle East for oil and communist China for EV cars. But we are not obliged to sell our souls to people we do with business with. Neither are we obliged to change our culture to encourage people to like us. Do you think Muslims respect us more when our schools put on ‘multi-faith’ Christmas plays? What nonsense; of course they don’t. They are more likely to pity us or to despise our lack of faith. The clue is in the name CHRISTmas. The problem with the UK is that we do not value ourselves and that we have forgotten that Christianity is not a culture, it’s a person. To a good first order approximation the labour party is the political wing of Welsh Methodism. It gave us the NHS, the world’s biggest Welsh Chapel – complete with bunker mentality and 20 mph speed limit.
          The good news is that Starmer is just a figure head. The govt is actually being steered by a group of talented women; Reeves in the Treasury, Mahmood in the Home Office, Nandy in Culture, Cooper at the Foreign Office, Phillipson at Education, Kendall in Science and Technology, Alexander at Transport, Reynolds at Environment. With few exceptions this nation has always been steered in a safe direction when women have been in charge…Elizabeth 1 and II, Anne, Victoria, Thatcher.
          So, confidently onwards and upwards into 2026 and sunlit uplands. Happy New Year. 😊

          • I’m not being funny but I can’t tell if your “Starmer is controlled by wonderful women who will save us” is a joke or not. I’d expect to read that in a BBC article or something, since they exist in a parallel universe, but plenty of recent evidence disputes your claim. If it is actually a claim.

      • Yep, Christianity is indeed crazy. You would be a fool to sign up for it.
        John 15: 13.” No one shows greater love than when he lays down his life for his friends.” 😉

      • Easy to say that when you live in a homogeneously white, European, christian country.

        Christian minorities around the world have been taking the brunt for decades.

        • Yes, it is easy to say that the victim mentality of other white men living in a homogeneously white, European, minority Christian country is crazy.

          • ‘This is the first time anyone has stuck up for Christianity’

            You said this in your above comment. I pointed out the absolute stupidity of such a statement.

            • In your opinion.

              You provided nothing to back that up. No facts, just more of your opinion, which you seem to think we should all accept as gospel (no pun intended).

              Bark all you want, without facts you’re just the one making noise while others are trying to communicate.

              • My guy – you’re claiming that this is the first time someone has stood up for Christianity, despite ignoring that the foundational principles of the American right-wing throughout the last century has been it’s association with Christian values and it’s promotion thereof.

                There are countless examples of speeches from a variety of Republican (and Democrat) figures that are built upon a foundation of Christian values. So, to claim that this sudden violence is the first time such a defence has been made is ridiculous and misleading.

                So, do not pretend to be interested in demonstrating alleged attempts to derail communication, when it is clear that your initial statement was little more than empty rhetoric.

  8. The problem there Daniel is that Trump’s alleged mass killing of Christians is simply untrue. A couple of rather extremist bible-selling groups in the USA claim 100,000 Christians have been killed since 2009.

    But the reputable organisations on the ground state that this is pretty much bunkum, only 5% of targeted ethnic killings of civilians are Christians; the overwhelming majority are Muslims who reject Islamist ideology.

    Nigeria’s foreign minister has also stated that thie bible-bashers’ claims are ‘A gross misrepresentation of reality.’

    This US military strike is all to do with Trump’s gang looking for something to throw to their evangelical base, as his popularity among US voters nose-dives.

    You clearly wish Trump’s claims to be true and all Muslims to be the culprits and universal hate figures. Alas, Trump’s data is contrived and it doesn’t need any hand-wringing on our part.

      • I’m afraid the facts just don’t support Trump’s claim that Christians are being wiped out in.northern Nigeria. It hasn’t happened, it isn’t happening. It comes from some dodgy figures put out by a US evangelical, proselytising Bible outfit, which have been debunked worldwide.

        I think ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ (TDS) actually best describes those MAGA supporters who continue to happily swallow the guff and fake news that Trump peddles.

    • So the Islamists are only killing enlightened Muslims. Phew! That’s alright then; we Christians can let them get on with it 🤔

  9. Nigeria has had a long, bloody 16-year battle with Islamists in.North-EaEast Nigeria, against Boko Haram and now ISIS. 100,000 people have been killed in that time civilians, army, police, terrorists.

    The problem with Trump’s claim is that there aren’t that many Christians in the Nort-East, it’s a predominantly Muslim area. ACLED, wich is the main source on armed conflict locations and event details, has the figure of Christians killed for ethic.and religious reasons as 317. Not MAGA’s claimed 100,000.

    If the USA really wanted to help on the fight against terror, they could usefully send some Rangers to help in the fight up in the North-east where Nigerian troops and allies have been up against it.

    The Islamist threat in the North West that the USA has just smote with cruise missiles is very small, the Lakurawa group trying to establish a base in Sokota on the border with Niger. I doubt there are many/any Christians in that neck of the woods anyway, but hey, it’s good for the Donald’s appeal to assorted evangelicals and rednecks.

    The phony story about ‘100,000’ Christian victims seems to come from a couple of bible-producing outfits in the USA. Spreading the word of God is a worthy and commendable thing.for Christians.

    Whether it is a particularly smart or wise thing to do in a near 100% Muslim area like Northern Nigeria is another matter.

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