US’ Deadliest Cruise Missiles Strike ISIS in Nigeria | Which Weapons Did Trump Use?
On Christmas Day, the United States launched a major cruise-missile strike on ISIS camps in northwest Nigeria, marking one of the most powerful U.S. military actions in West Africa in recent years.
According to Pentagon sources, Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from a U.S. Navy warship positioned off the African coast. The missiles struck ISIS-linked targets in Sokoto State, with the Pentagon later releasing video footage to confirm the operation.
These weapons are among the deadliest conventional missiles in the U.S. arsenal — capable of flying hundreds of miles, evading air defenses, and striking targets with extreme precision. Reports suggest more than a dozen Tomahawks were launched during the operation.
00:00On Christmas Day, while most of the world was winding down, the United States quietly lit up the skies over West Africa.
00:19This wasn't a drone strike. This wasn't a warning shot.
00:23This was a full-blown cruise missile assault on ISIS-linked militant camps deep inside Nigeria.
00:31The Pentagon then did something else unusual. It released the footage.
00:36Missiles blast off from the deck of a U.S. warship, streaking into the night.
00:42Those weapons were Tomahawk cruise missiles, the same class of missile the U.S. has used in major operations in places like Syria and Iraq.
00:52Each Tomahawk can fly hundreds of miles, hugging the terrain, guided by GPS and onboard navigation, and then slam into its target with brutal precision.
01:04According to U.S. officials, more than dozens of these missiles were launched from a Navy vessel positioned off the African coast,
01:13all aimed at militant camps in Nigeria's Sokoto State.
01:18So what exactly was hit?
01:20The targets, U.S. Africa Command says, were ISIS-linked militant camps believed to be tied to Islamic State Sahel,
01:29a fast-growing extremist network that's been spreading across the Sahel and West Africa.
01:35The Pentagon's initial assessment, multiple ISIS militants were killed, no civilian casualties were confirmed,
01:44and the strike, they insist, was coordinated with Nigerian authorities.
01:49Nigeria's government later confirmed it was a joint operation, part of ongoing U.S.-Nigeria security cooperation,
01:58including intelligence-sharing and targeting support.
02:02But the real political shockwave came from Washington.
02:06President Donald Trump announced the strike himself on Truth Social.
02:11He said U.S. forces had taken out ISIS fighters responsible for brutal attacks on civilians,
02:18especially Christians in northern Nigeria.
02:21He framed the operation as a direct response to weeks of escalating violence
02:27and to what he called ignored warnings to the terrorists.
02:31And then there was the timing.
02:33December 25th, Christmas Day.
02:37For Trump supporters, it's a symbolic message.
02:40Terrorists who target churches and Christian communities can expect U.S. missiles as a Christmas gift.
02:47For critics, it raises questions about escalation, legality,
02:52and whether this marks a new phase of U.S. military involvement in Africa.
02:58What makes this strike stand out is not just the date, it's the weapon choice.
03:04The U.S. usually relies on drones and smaller precision weapons for counter-terror operations on the African continent.
03:12Here, there were no drones in the headline. No Hellfire missiles.
03:17Instead, Washington reached for naval cruise missiles, a tool normally associated with the opening salvo of a major campaign.
03:26That sends a very clear signal. The threat is being taken seriously.
03:32The U.S. wants ISIS-linked networks in West Africa to know it can hit them from far offshore.
03:39And it's a show of American power projected deep into the African interior.
03:45Without a single U.S. soldier crossing the border.
03:49To understand why Nigeria is suddenly the focus of this kind of strike, you have to look at the violence on the ground.
03:57For years, Nigeria has been battling a toxic mix of hard-line Islamist extremism, including ISIS affiliates and Boko Haram,
04:07heavily armed bandit groups conducting raids on villages, clashes over land, grazing routes and resources,
04:16and a booming kidnapping for ransom industry.
04:19The victims are not just one community.
04:22Both Muslims and Christians are killed in these attacks.
04:26Villages are burned, farmers are driven off their land,
04:30worshippers are targeted in churches and mosques.
04:33In the North and the Central Belt, ordinary people are caught in overlapping conflicts with very different motives,
04:41ideology, money, revenge, or simply survival.
04:46Against that backdrop, attacks specifically targeting Christian communities, churches, and religious gatherings
04:54have drawn international attention, and they're exactly the kind of incidents U.S. officials say this Christmas strike was responding to.
05:02But here's where it gets even more political.
05:06In parallel to this operation, the Trump administration has labeled Nigeria a country of particular concern over religious freedom,
05:15citing a pattern of violence and state failures that threaten Christian populations.
05:21Human rights groups and analysts push back on a simple narrative.
05:26They argue the data shows many victims are also Muslim, and that reducing the crisis to a one-sided religious persecution story ignores criminality, poverty, corruption, and state weakness.
05:41Nigeria's government is also extremely sensitive to that label.
05:45Officials in Abuja insist that the security forces are fighting all terrorists and armed groups, regardless of religion, and they reject the idea that the state is targeting or abandoning a specific faith.
06:00So, you have two parallel stories.
06:03From Washington, a decisive Christmas blow against ISIS terrorists, who, in Trump's words, have hunted Christians for years.
06:12From Abuja, a joint counter-terror mission, yes, but within Nigeria's sovereignty, and not a crusade framed along religious lines.
06:22Strategically, this strike raises big questions.
06:26Is this a one-off show of force, or the beginning of a more muscular U.S. campaign against ISIS-Sahel and other jihadi groups in West Africa?
06:37Remember, Trump campaigned on ending endless wars, yet we now see U.S. cruise missiles landing in a new theater, Nigeria,
06:47adding to a growing list of overseas actions his administration has taken.
06:52For the Pentagon, the operation ticks a lot of boxes.
06:56It demonstrates capability.
06:58It reassures allies that the U.S. is still willing to act against global terror networks.
07:04And it avoids putting American boots on the ground.
07:08For Nigeria, it's a double-edged sword.
07:11On one hand, American firepower can take out hardened militant camps that are hard for Nigerian forces to reach or destroy.
07:20On the other, every foreign strike risks domestic backlash over sovereignty and feeds the narrative that Nigeria is outsourcing its security.
07:30For local communities living under the shadow of ISIS-linked violence, the hope is simple.
07:37Fewer attacks, fewer massacres, fewer nights spent wondering if gunmen will storm their village.
07:44But counter-terror experts warn that air strikes alone rarely solve the problem.
07:50Groups like ISIS-Sahel are scattered, mobile, and embedded in difficult terrain.
07:56They feed on weak governance, unemployment, corruption, and local grievances.
08:02Taking out one camp or one commander doesn't erase the underlying conditions that allow these networks to regenerate.
08:11So, where does this leave us?
08:13On Christmas night, American warships were firing.
08:17Missiles were flying.
08:19And somewhere in the dark over West Africa, a column of fire rose from the ground where an ISIS-linked camp once stood.
08:28The global war on terror did not pause for the holidays.
08:32It simply shifted its crosshairs, this time onto Nigerian soil.
08:38What is the problem?
08:39The American war on terror Software, yet it is not where you can find.
08:41What is the challenge?
08:42Now, the Navy was several men cingedits of Russia, and the military and iIIs and Iraq were
08:43growing up for the first time.
08:44The Korean war on terror, the naval war on terror died.
08:45We all began as theaissement of Russia's war, but the Blue people, the military and the army
08:46were flying up.
08:47The WA unit was strictly from the CIA.
08:48So, what is the most reasonable?
08:49It is not possible.
08:50It is rather an intentional war against Russia.
08:51It is not possible in the war, it is not possible.
08:52The empezar forces and the war on terror, it is really good to lose him, so it is really
08:53important.
08:55But one thing is clear.
08:56On Christmas night, American warships were firing, missiles were flying.
08:58But somewhere in the dark over West Africa, a column of fire rose from the ground where
09:04an ISIS-linked camp once stood.
09:07The global war on terror did not pause for the holidays.
09:11It simply shifted its crosshairs, this time onto Nigerian soil.
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