{"id":8745,"date":"2025-12-29T16:11:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T16:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/29\/trump-targets-isis-in-nigeria-amid-warnings-sahel-region-is-becoming-epicenter-of-terrorism-fox-news\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T16:11:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T16:11:18","slug":"trump-targets-isis-in-nigeria-amid-warnings-sahel-region-is-becoming-epicenter-of-terrorism-fox-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/29\/trump-targets-isis-in-nigeria-amid-warnings-sahel-region-is-becoming-epicenter-of-terrorism-fox-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump targets ISIS in Nigeria amid warnings Sahel region is becoming \u2018epicenter of terrorism\u2019 – Fox News"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

President Donald Trump<\/a> is taking action against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria, following through on previous threats and signing off on airstrikes targeting the group on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the Christmas strikes zeroed in on ISIS militants, there are a number of violent extremist organizations operating in Africa’s Sahel region, where U.S. officials claim they are continuing to grow in influence and strength as violence surges there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The strikes conducted<\/a> on Christmas occurred in Nigeria\u2019s Sokoto State on the border of neighboring Niger. The area is where the Islamic State\u2019s (IS) Sahel Province, which is largely based in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, has “made inroads into Nigeria,” according to Caleb Weiss, an editor with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies\u2019 Long War Journal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\"Split<\/picture><\/div>\n
\n

President Donald Trump announced attacks against terrorists in Nigeria, killing Christians.<\/span> (Mark Schiefelbein\/AP Photo and Adekunle Ajayi\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“In Sokoto, it has carried out attacks against both government forces and civilians, representing just one jihadist group operating in Nigeria,” Weiss said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n

NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN LEADER CALLS TRUMP’S SPOTLIGHT ON VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA AN ‘ANSWERED PRAYER’\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Additionally, other ISIS branches like IS West Africa Province<\/a>, as well as organizations tied to other violent extremist groups like al Qaeda, are also active in the region, he said. These include Boko Haram, a Nigerian-based group that the State Department designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2013, as well as offshoots of al Qaeda like Ansaru and The Group for Support of Islam and Muslims, also known as Jama\u2019at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, or JNIM.<\/p>\n

“In addition to IS Sahel, there is also IS West Africa Province, which supports and coordinates with IS Sahel in NW Nigeria; the so-called Boko Haram; and the Al-Qaeda groups of Ansaru and the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims, which, like IS Sahel, is a group mainly based in Mali and Burkina Faso, but in recent years have also made inroads into Nigeria that has effectively made the Sahelian and Nigerian conflicts one large conflict,” Weiss said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Sahel region, which primarily includes Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, is ripe for terrorist activity, and U.S. officials have long cautioned about the threat that these groups pose to the U.S. homeland.<\/p>\n

NIGERIA SECURES RELEASE OF 100 ABDUCTED SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM CATHOLIC SCHOOL AFTER WEEKS IN CAPTIVITY\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

For example, Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, who is the head of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), told reporters in May that extremist groups are gaining ground and “expanding their ambitions,” meaning the threat to the U.S. homeland<\/a> is increasing as these groups gain “capability and capacity” in the Sahel region.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Church<\/picture><\/div>\n
\n

A drone view of Christians departing St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church after a Sunday mass in Palmgrove, Lagos, Nigeria, on Nov. 2, 2025.<\/span> (REUTERS\/Sodiq Adelakun)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“It is the flashpoint of prolonged conflict and growing instability. It is the epicenter of terrorism on the globe,” Langley said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Trump announced Thursday that he directed the strikes<\/a> in northwest Nigeria, after previously warning he would take action following recent attacks in the region against Christians.<\/p>\n

US DRAMATICALLY ESCALATES SOMALIA AIRSTRIKES AS TRUMP ADMIN TARGETS ISIS, AL QAEDA TERRORISTS\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“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 said on Thursday in a post on Truth Social. “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.”<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear how many people were killed in the attacks, although Trump said that the strikes were “deadly.” AFRICOM said<\/a> Thursday that its initial assessment is “multiple” ISIS terrorists were killed in the attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Christians and Christian institutions<\/a> have faced a series of attacks in Nigeria. In November, two people were killed and dozens were kidnapped after gunmen raided the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State. Those who were abducted were liberated almost a week later.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Newspaper<\/picture><\/div>\n
\n

A newspaper vendor pulls a newspaper with an article reporting U.S. President Donald Trump’s message to Nigeria over the treatment of Christians, at a newspaper stand in Ojuelegba, Lagos, Nigeria, Nov. 2, 2025.<\/span> (REUTERS\/Sodiq Adelakun)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Also in November, armed attackers stormed St. Mary\u2019s School<\/a> in Niger State, an event that resulted in the kidnapping of more than 300 students and staff. Although school officials later said roughly 50 students were able to break free, more than 250 students and 21 teachers are still in captivity.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Trump administration<\/a> moved to designate Nigeria<\/a> a “country of particular concern” in November. Nigeria has pushed back against the U.S. government\u2019s designation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fox News\u2019 Greg Wehner contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Donald Trump is taking action against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria, following through on previous threats and signing off on airstrikes targeting the group on Thursday.\u00a0 While the Christmas strikes zeroed in on ISIS militants, there are a number of violent extremist organizations operating in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}