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On Christmas Day 2025, US forces launched coordinated airstrikes against ISIS fighters in northwest Nigeria, marking Washington's first direct military action in the region under President Donald Trump's renewed anti-terror campaign.
A man inspects the scene of a deadly bomb explosion inside a mosque in Maiduguri, Nigeria. (Image: AP)
UPDATED: Dec 26, 2025 09:53 IST
On Thursday, President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform that, “at my direction as Commander in Chief,” the United States carried out numerous airstrikes on ISIS militants in northwest Nigeria on December 25, 2025.
He described the targets as “ISIS terrorist scum” who had been “viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians” and warned that if the killings continued, there would be “hell to pay” and more US military action.
ISIS IN NIGERIA
Despite being wiped out as a Caliphate that ruled some pockets of the Levant, ISIS survives as splinter groups in pockets of the Middle East and Africa.
In Africa, its most powerful presence is in Nigeria and the surrounding Lake Chad Basin under the banner of Islamic State–West Africa Province (ISWAP). This group is a regional affiliate of ISIS (Islamic State) that evolved from the long-running Islamist insurgency in northeastern Nigeria.
ORIGINS: FROM BOKO HARAM TO ISWAP
Boko Haram (full name: Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad), an Islamist militant group founded in early 2000s in northern Nigeria, began as a radical movement opposing Western education and secular government.
The insurgency formally started in 2009 after a failed uprising. Boko Haram’s leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed in 2009, and the group reorganised under Abubakar Shekau, becoming increasingly violent.
AFFILIATION WITH ISIS
In March 2015, a faction of Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS (Islamic State) and was recognised as Islamic State–West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The split happened partly due to disagreements over tactics, notably Shekau’s brutal use of suicide bombers and targeting Muslim civilians, which ISIS central command reportedly opposed.
After internal fighting, ISWAP emerged as the dominant faction following the Battle of Sambisa Forest in 2021, where Shekau was cornered and reportedly killed.
ISWAP: MISSION AND IDEOLOGY
ISWAP’s declared goal is to establish an Islamic state governed by its strict interpretation of sharia across Nigeria and neighboring countries.
It functions as a regional ISIS “province” (wilaya). This implies it claims to be part of the broader ISIS network but largely operates autonomously in West Africa.
Its main base is in northeastern Nigeria (especially Borno and Yobe states) and the Lake Chad Basin, with cross-border activity into Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
Membership estimates vary, but some analyses suggest several thousand fighters (reports often estimate between 4,000 and 12,000 depending on methodology).
ISWAP is frequently identified as ISIS’s most active affiliate worldwide, outpacing many other ISIS provinces in attack numbers.
In 2025, it carried out dozens of attacks in Nigeria and neighboring countries, in some analyses accounting for a significant share of ISIS’s global activity.
THE US STRIKES
Trump framed the operation as a response to the killing of Christians in Nigeria, saying militants were attacking Christian communities at levels “not seen for many years, and even centuries.”
He had already signalled this move in October–November, publicly warning that if Nigeria’s government could not stop the violence against Christians, the US might intervene militarily to protect them.
US Africa Command stated that the operation was carried out at the request of Nigerian authorities, indicating that Abuja consented to US strikes on its territory.
Nigerian and regional outlets reported that the government quietly welcomed the operation as support against ISIS/ISWAP after repeated attacks on villages, churches, and security forces in the northwest.
WHAT NEXT?
Trump and his defence team have hinted there could be “more to come” if ISIS-linked groups continue killing Christians or attacking civilians.
Much will depend on whether the strikes actually reduce violence on the ground; without parallel efforts to strengthen governance, security forces, and civilian protection in affected Nigerian regions, experts caution that ISWAP and allied cells may adapt and persist.
- Ends
Published By:
Akshat Trivedi
Published On:
Dec 26, 2025
