US launches deadly strikes against Islamic State in Nigeria, says Trump

BBC:

President Donald Trump has said the US launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against the Islamic State (IS) group in north-western Nigeria.

The US leader described IS as ” terrorist scum”, accusing the group of “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”.

Trump said the US military “executed numerous perfect strikes”, while the US Africa Command (Africom) later reported that Thursday’s attack was carried out in co-ordination with Nigeria in the Sokoto state.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar told the BBC it was a “joint operation” targeting “terrorists”, and it “has nothing to do with a particular religion”.

Without naming IS specifically, Tuggar said the operation had been planned “for quite some time” and had used intelligence information provided by the Nigerian side.

The minister did not rule out further strikes, adding that this depended on “decisions to be taken by the leadership of the two countries”.