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U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out repeated military strikes in Nigeria if attacks on Christians continue.
Trump gave this warning in an interview with The New York Times, where he was asked whether U.S. missile strikes carried out on Christmas Day against Islamic State targets marked the beginning of a broader military campaign.
The strikes followed earlier comments by Trump in which he threatened to deploy U.S. troops to Nigeria, saying American forces would go in “guns-a-blazing” to stop the killing of Christians.
In the NYT interview published on Thursday, Trump suggested further strikes remained possible.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump said. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”
Nigerian authorities have consistently rejected claims that Christians are being deliberately targeted, maintaining that insecurity in the country affects communities across religious lines.
In October, Trump’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, said extremist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State were killing more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria.
Asked about his adviser’s remarks, Trump noted that Muslims were also being killed but insisted Christians were the primary victims.
“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians.” he stated.
Meanwhile, Nigerian officials have said the Nigerian Air Force will take the lead in air operations against jihadist groups following the recent U.S. strikes.
A Nigerian official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Nigeria remains open to further U.S. strikes but that Washington’s primary role going forward would be to provide intelligence support, including reconnaissance flights, to back Nigerian-led operations.
