US President Donald Trump on Friday described strikes against ISIS (Daesh) targets in Nigeria as a "Christmas present" to the terror group.
"Tens of thousands of Christians" are being killed in Nigeria, Trump said on WABC radio, adding that he had warned the Nigerian government about consequences.
"I said yesterday, 'Hit them on Christmas Day. It will be a Christmas present," Trump said.
He said US forces struck ISIS "hard" in different locations, calling the terror group "terrible" and "butchers."
"They really got hit hard yesterday," he said. "They got a very bad Christmas present."
The US conducted strikes against ISIS targets in northwest Nigeria on Thursday, Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social.
US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said it launched the strikes "at the request of Nigerian authorities" in Sokoto State, "killing multiple ISIS terrorists," according to a post on US social media company X.
Nigeria confirmed early Friday that it continues collaborating with the US on security matters to address the ongoing threat of terrorism and violent extremism.
