United States President Donald Trump has said that Muslims are also among those killed in Nigeria but maintained that Christians remain the primary victims of violent attacks, as he warned that the United States could carry out more military strikes if the situation does not improve.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times that was published on Thursday. He spoke while answering questions about a United States military strike carried out in Nigeria on Christmas Day.
The U.S. military had earlier said the operation targeted Islamic State fighters in northwestern Nigeria and was conducted at the request of the Nigerian government. Nigerian authorities later described the action as a joint operation against terrorists and stressed that it was not directed at any religious group.
While discussing the strike, Trump said he hoped it would not be repeated but warned that further action could follow if attacks on Christians continued. “I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” he said, adding that repeated killings of Christians could lead to more strikes.
Trump was also asked about comments from his Africa adviser, who had said that extremist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram were killing more Muslims than Christians. In response, Trump acknowledged that Muslims were also being killed in Nigeria but insisted that Christians were the main targets.
In late October, the U.S. president began publicly warning that Christianity was facing a serious threat in Nigeria. He accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christian communities and suggested that the United States might intervene militarily if the violence continued.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has more than 230 million people. The population is almost evenly divided between Christians, who mainly live in the southern regions, and Muslims, who are largely based in the north.
Although the country has faced years of security problems, including insurgency, banditry, and kidnappings, the Nigerian government has consistently rejected claims of systematic persecution of Christians. Officials have said that people of different religious backgrounds have been killed by armed groups and criminal gangs.
The Nigerian government has also expressed willingness to work with the United States to fight militant groups but has opposed descriptions that suggest violence in the country is aimed mainly at Christians. It has repeatedly stressed that both Muslims and Christians have suffered from the ongoing insecurity.
The comments by Trump have continued to draw attention to Nigeria’s security challenges and the growing international debate over how the crisis should be described and addressed.