President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out further military strikes in Nigeria if attacks on Christians continue.
Trump spoke when the New York Times (NYT) asked him in an interview if the Christmas Day missile strikes against the Islamic State terror group amounted to a broader military campaign.
The strikes occurred about a month after Trump threatened to send troops into Nigeria “guns-a-blazing to wipe out the terrorists killing our cherished Christians”, as some US politicians repeatedly claimed that there was a genocide against Christians in the West African nation.
Nigeria retained decision-making over the one-off incident, Ademola Oshodi, senior special assistant to President Bola Tinubu on foreign affairs and protocol, had said.
After the strikes, Trump said more would follow.
He doubled down in the NYT interview published Thursday.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” he said.
“But if they continue to kill Christians it will be a many-time strike.”
The Nigerian government has repeatedly rejected claims of targeted Christian killings.
Last October, Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, said Boko Haram and ISIS were killing more Muslims than Christians.
Asked about his adviser’s statement, Trump said: “I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians.”
After the strikes, flight tracking data showed that the US resumed intelligence and surveillance operations in Nigeria.
