美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)周四在其社交媒体平台上发表帖子称，他对尼日利亚的“伊斯兰国”恐怖分子发动了“强大而致命的打击”，他声称这些恐怖分子“主要针对并恶意杀害无辜的基督徒”
这是在总统发布了一段视频之后11月初威胁要进入尼日利亚“激烈交火”大约在那个时候，国防部长皮特·黑格斯回应了特朗普的信息，并在一份声明中说邮政国防部正在“准备行动”
“我以前警告过这些恐怖分子，如果他们不停止屠杀基督徒，将会有地狱般的惩罚，今晚，就有了。特朗普在帖子中补充说:“战争部执行了无数次完美的打击，只有美国有能力做到这一点。”。
目前还不清楚那次袭击的结果，也不清楚具体目标是什么。ABC新闻已经向白宫询问更多信息。
在一个邮政在X上，Hegseth进一步表示将会有“更多的来”，并对尼日利亚政府的支持和合作表示感谢。
“总统上个月明确表示:在尼日利亚(和其他地方)杀害无辜基督徒的行为必须停止。
“那个@DeptofWar时刻准备着，所以“伊斯兰国”今晚发现了——在圣诞节。"
海格塞斯以“圣诞快乐”结束了他的帖子
在一个邮政X日，美国非洲司令部证实了这些袭击，称这些袭击是“在尼日利亚当局的配合下”进行的
国防部也转发了特朗普总统的声明，以及一份简短视频剪辑标签为“非机密”,显示一枚导弹从一艘船上发射，目标可能是尼日利亚。
周四对“伊斯兰国”的袭击发生在美国空袭几天后对叙利亚的“伊斯兰国”发动攻击此前，本月早些时候，美国及其合作部队在叙利亚遭到袭击，造成三名美国人死亡。
11月的特朗普指示五角大楼在指责尼日利亚政府在保护基督徒免受暴力侵害方面做得不够后，准备对尼日利亚采取可能的行动。
当被问及美国军队是否有可能在西非国家实地驻扎时，特朗普回答说，“有可能。”
“他们正在杀害基督徒，大量杀害他们，我们不会允许这种情况发生，”他说。
几天后，美国国务院正式更新了它的名称尼日利亚因其所谓的“严重侵犯宗教自由”和迫害基督徒而成为“特别关注的国家”。
上周，尼日利亚也被列入美国旅行禁令名单，面临部分限制和入境限制。
尼日利亚总统博拉·提努布并不否认针对尼日利亚基督徒的暴力，但他说以前的声称尼日利亚宗教不宽容“并不反映我们的国家现实。”
独立专家表示，极端组织在尼日利亚既针对穆斯林也针对基督徒，近年来杀害了数万名平民。
在圣诞节尼日利亚总统博拉·提努布·伊芙张贴在X上，他说他祈祷“在我们的土地上实现和平，尤其是不同宗教信仰的个人之间。”
“我承诺尽我所能维护尼日利亚的宗教自由，保护基督徒、穆斯林和所有尼日利亚人免受暴力侵害，”帖子继续说道。
Trump says US launched strike on ISIS terrorists in Nigeria
President Donald Trump said in a post on his social media platform Thursday that he launched a "powerful and deadly strike" on ISIS terrorists in Nigeria, whom he claimed have been "targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians."
This comes after the president posted a video inearly Novemberthreatening to go into Nigeria "guns-a-blazing."Around that time, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Trump's message and said in aposton X that the Department of Defense was "preparing for action."
"I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was. The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing," Trump added in the post.
It is not yet clear the outcome of that strike or what the exact target was. ABC News has asked the White House for more information.
In aposton X, Hegseth further said there will be "more to come" and expressed his gratitude to the Nigerian government for its support and cooperation.
"The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end.
"The@DeptofWaris always ready, so ISIS found out tonight -- on Christmas."
Hegseth ended his post with, "Merry Christmas!"
In aposton X, U.S. Africa Command confirmed the strikes, which it said were conducted "in coordination with Nigerian authorities."
The Defense Department also reposted President Trump's statement, along with abrief video cliplabeled "unclassified" that shows a missile being launched from a ship, presumably at targets in Nigeria.
The strike against ISIS in Nigeria Thursday comes just days after U.S. strikes werelaunched against ISIS in Syria, following an attack on U.S. and partner forces in Syria that killed three Americans earlier this month.
Trump in Novemberinstructed the Pentagonto prepare for possible action against Nigeria after accusing the Nigerian government of not doing enough to protect Christians from violence.
Asked if there was a possibility of U.S. troops being boots on the ground in the West African country, Trump replied, "Could be."
"They're killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers,we're not going to allow that to happen," he said.
Days later, the State Departmentofficially updated its designationfor Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) for its alleged "severe violations of religious freedom" and persecution of Christians.
Last week, Nigeria was also added to the U.S. travel ban list of countries facing partial restrictions and entry limitations.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu doesn’t deny the violence against Christians in Nigeria, but sayspreviousclaims that Nigeria is religiously intolerant "does not reflect our national reality."
Independent experts say extremist groups have targeted both Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, killing tens of thousands of civilians in recent years.
On ChristmasEve, Nigerian President Bola Tinubupostedon X, saying that he prayed "for peace in our land, especially between individuals of differing religious beliefs."
"I stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence," the post continued.
