Washington, D.C. — United States President Donald Trump has claimed that missile strikes authorized by his administration in Nigeria helped reduce attacks on Christian communities and dealt a major blow to terrorist groups operating in the country.
Speaking at an event in Washington on Friday, Trump alleged that the military operation significantly curtailed the mass killings of Christians, who he said had been targeted by terrorists before the strikes.
“As you know, we recently struck Nigeria and largely ended the slaughter of great Christian populations,” Trump said.
The US president alleged that thousands of Christians, including women, children and the elderly, had been killed before the operation.
“They have a great Christian population. They were being butchered… Thousands and thousands of people were being killed, children, women, old people, just being slaughtered, hacked to death,” he said.
Trump further claimed that the strikes eliminated several high-ranking terrorist leaders and served as a deterrent against future attacks.
“We hit them very hard. We knocked out their leader. We knocked out their second leader and their third leader,” he said, adding that the militants now understood that any further aggression would attract an even stronger military response.
Drawing a comparison with the United States’ policy toward Iran, Trump said both actions were aimed at preventing greater security threats.
“It sounds a little bit like Iran, actually… because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let it happen,” he said.
The US president also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to protecting Christians around the world, saying the United States would continue to pursue terrorist groups wherever they operate.
“So I’m saving Christians throughout the world… I’m saving them by hitting these terrorists very violently and very hard. We know where they are. We hunt them down, and we take them out,” Trump stated.
He also warned that the United States would continue confronting extremist groups it believes threaten religious freedom across the globe.
Trump’s remarks come amid ongoing international discussions about security challenges in Nigeria and efforts to combat armed extremist groups in parts of the country.
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