The first US strikes in Nigeria: who was hit in Sokoto, and why does the answer stay vague?

Sanusi Madabo, a 40-year-old farmer in the village of Jabo in Sokoto State, heard a loud noise "that sounded like a plane crashing" and ran outside with his wife. The sky was glowing bright red, and it stayed that way for hours. "It was almost like daytime," he told the Associated Press. Jabo had never been attacked in the violence that regularly hits neighbouring villages.

What he saw on the night of 25 December 2025 were the first US strikes ever carried out in Nigeria, according to Task & Purpose. They were aimed at Islamic State fighters in the country's north-west, and they were coordinated with the Nigerian government.

The strikes matter beyond Sokoto for two reasons. A foreign military has opened a new front in a conflict Nigeria has fought largely alone since 2009. And the two governments described the same operation in very different terms: one spoke of protecting Christians, the other said religion had nothing to do with it.

What was fired, and from where?

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the US had "launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria", FDD's Long War Journal reported. The Long War Journal wrote that Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from a US Navy ship; a Department of Defense video showed at least one missile launched from a ship, according to Task & Purpose.

The Nigerian government gave more detail than Washington. Its spokesperson Mohammed Idris said the strikes were launched from the Gulf of Guinea, shortly after midnight, and involved "16 GPS-guided precision" missiles and MQ-9 Reaper drones, the AP reported. He said they targeted areas used as "staging grounds by foreign" Islamic State fighters who had entered from the Sahel.

The Abuja newspaper Leadership, republished by allAfrica, reported that the strikes hit a Lakurawa camp in Tandami village, Tangaza local government area.

Who was the target?

US Africa Command said only that "multiple terrorists" were killed. It did not say how many strikes took place and gave no early damage assessment, the Long War Journal noted.

The likely target, the Long War Journal wrote, was Islamic State Sahel Province, which has expanded from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger into Sokoto, although this was not confirmed. Analysts quoted by the AP suggested instead the strikes may have targeted Lakurawa, a group whose first recorded attack in the north-west was around 2018 and which researchers describe as made up mainly of foreigners from the Sahel. Its ties to the Islamic State are unproven.

That uncertainty is not a detail. It shapes how the second question is answered: what the strikes were for.

Why does the religious framing matter?

Trump said the militants had been killing "primarily, innocent Christians", according to the Long War Journal. In November he had already warned of possible US military action, accusing Nigeria's government of allowing widespread violence against Christians, Task & Purpose reported. The Trump administration says Nigeria is experiencing a genocide of Christians; Nigeria rejects this, the AP wrote.

Nigeria's foreign minister, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, told the BBC that the strikes had "nothing to do with a particular religion" and had been planned for "quite some time", according to Task & Purpose. Researchers cited by the BBC say most violence in the north targets other Muslims and that much of it is economic rather than sectarian.

What did the strikes leave behind on the ground?

No villagers were harmed, the AP reported, and security forces cordoned off the area. Balira Sa'idu, 17, was preparing for her wedding: "I am supposed to be thinking about my wedding, but right now I am panicking."

Debris was scattered, and some residents collected metal to sell, which the village leader Aliyu Garba feared could hurt them. Leadership reported that police sent explosives experts to Jabo after objects resembling bombs were found buried near the site, and that the local police area commander, Muhammed Augie, warned against scavenging (allAfrica).

The same report said authorities warned neighbouring states that Lakurawa members may have fled the area. "We have not received information on the number of people killed, but they are certainly injured," said Isa Saleh Bashir, chairman of Tangaza local government area.

What we do not know

• How many people were killed. AFRICOM's "multiple terrorists" has not been independently confirmed, Task & Purpose noted, and the Nigerian government released no casualty figures for militants.
• Who exactly was hit. Islamic State Sahel Province and Lakurawa are both named by analysts; neither government has published evidence.
• How many munitions were used. The figure of 16 missiles comes from the Nigerian government; the US did not say how many strikes took place.
• Whether unexploded ordnance remains. As of the reports of 27 and 28 December 2025, experts were still examining buried objects near Jabo.

What to watch

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted "More to come…" (Task & Purpose). Tuggar called the strikes a "new phase of an old conflict" and said he expected more (AP). If more strikes come, the test will be whether either government says more about whom they hit. Bulama Bukarti of the Tony Blair Institute put the risk plainly to the AP: "The more opaque the governments are, the more panic there will be on the ground, and that is what will escalate tensions."

Sources

• FDD's Long War Journal: US strikes Islamic State in Nigeria (26 December 2025)
• Task & Purpose: US strikes in Sokoto, Nigeria (26 December 2025)
• Associated Press via The Korea Times: Nigerian villagers are rattled by US airstrikes that made their homes shake, sky glow red (27 December 2025)
• Leadership via allAfrica: After U.S. Strikes...Sokoto Warns Neighbours As Lakurawa Terrorists Flee (28 December 2025)