Fresh Revelations: Christmas airstrikes had a different target – US General

The United States has revealed a surprising new angle to its Christmas Day airstrikes in northwestern Nigeria.

According to Lieutenant General John Brennan, deputy commander of the US Africa Command, the strikes were aimed not solely at local militants, but at Islamic State-linked fighters operating largely from neighbouring Niger.

US Army Lieutenant General John Brennan, Deputy Commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), made the clarification while speaking to AFP on the sidelines of a US–Nigeria security meeting held last week.

According to Brennan, the locations struck were being used as operational staging grounds by terrorist groups operating across the Sahel.

“The targets were areas that all terrorist groups from the Sahel use as a staging area. The most recent information we received from the Nigerians was it was ISIS Sahel related,” he said.

Security analysts have raised concerns over the growing spread of ISSP fighters from the Sahel into coastal West African countries, including Nigeria.

The US general’s remarks come amid public anxiety and reports suggesting that civilians may have been affected by the Christmas Day strikes.

United States President Donald Trump had earlier confirmed that US forces conducted what he described as “powerful and deadly” strikes against Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria on December 25.

Trump said the action followed repeated warnings to the group to stop killing Christians in Nigeria.

“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,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“May God Bless our Military… MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.”

The US Department of Defense also confirmed that “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed in the operation, which it said was carried out at the request of Nigerian authorities, though it did not release further operational details.

AFRICOM, in a post on X, said the strikes were conducted in Sokoto State and resulted in the killing of several ISIS fighters.

The Christmas Day operation marked the first direct US military strikes in Nigeria since Trump returned to office. It followed months of sharp criticism from the US president, who in October and November accused Nigerian authorities of failing to protect Christians, claiming they faced an “existential threat” amounting to “genocide.”