Jaroslav Lukivand
Makuochi Okafor
BBC
One strike hit a field near a village in Sokoto state
The US has launched “powerful and deadly” strikes against militants linked to the Islamic State group (IS) in north-western Nigeria, where militants have sought to establish a foothold, President Donald Trump said.
Trump told Politico he ordered the 25 December strikes as “a Christmas present” – contradicting a statement by Nigerian officials.
Camps run by the group in Sokoto state were hit near the border with Niger, the US military said. Casualty numbers are unclear, but both US and Nigerian officials say militants were killed.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar told the BBC it was a “joint operation” and had “nothing to do with a particular religion”.
Tuggar said the strikes had been planned “for quite some time” using intelligence provided by Nigeria. He did not rule out further strikes.
Referring to the timing of strikes – which took place late on Thursday – he said they did not have “anything to do with Christmas”.
“They were going to do it earlier,” Trump said of the airstrikes. “And I said, ‘nope, let’s give a Christmas present.’
“They didn’t think that was coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp got decimated.”
The US military said an “initial assessment” suggested “multiple” fatalities in Sokoto state.
A local official in the Tangaza area of Sokoto state, Isa Salihu Bashir, told the BBC the strikes had “hit some Lakurawa terrorist camps”. He said many fighters had been killed but the death toll was unclear.
The BBC has been unable to independently confirm casualty figures.
Bashir added that border patrols on the Niger side reported seeing Lakurawa
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