The US has carried out an airstrike against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria with President Donald Trump saying the group has been targeting Christians in the region.
"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!," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The US military's Africa Command said on social media platform X the strike was conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities and killed multiple ISIS militants.
The strike comes after Trump starting in late October began warning that Christianity faces an "existential threat" in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.
In November, Trump said he'd ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria following the claims of Christian persecution.
The State Department then announced in recent weeks it would restrict visas for Nigerians and their family members involved in mass killings and violence against Christians in the West African country.
The US recently designated Nigera a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act.
"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 in his post on Christmas night in the US.
He said US defence officials had "executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing".
"Our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper," Trump wrote.
Reuters reported on Monday the US had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.
Nigeria's government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and US claims that Christians face persecution do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religious freedom.
But it has agreed to work with the US to bolster its forces against militant groups.
The nation's population is split between Muslims living primarily in the north and Christians in the south.
The president issued his statement while he was at his Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago Club, where he has been spending the holiday.
With AP