United States President Donald Trump has claimed that recent American military operations in Nigeria played a key role in reducing attacks on Christian communities by terrorist groups.
Speaking during an event in Washington over the weekend, Trump said the operation targeted senior leaders of the extremist group responsible for violent attacks on Christians, adding that the strikes dealt a major blow to the terrorists and discouraged further assaults.
According to the US President, the intervention helped bring an end to widespread killings that had claimed thousands of lives.
“As you know, we recently struck Nigeria and largely ended the slaughter of great Christian populations,” Trump said.
“They have a great Christian population. They were being butchered. Thousands and thousands of people were being killed, children, women, old people, just being slaughtered, hacked to death.”
Trump maintained that the operation eliminated key figures within the terrorist network, including its top leadership.
“They know that if they go further, the attack will be far greater and that they don’t want to really get involved anymore so much,” he said.
“You know, we hit them very hard. We knocked out their leader. We knocked out their second leader and their third leader.”
The US President drew parallels between the reported operation in Nigeria and recent American military actions against Iran, saying both reflected his administration’s determination to confront serious security threats.
“It sounds a little bit like Iran, actually. It’s all about a different cause that we have to do because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let it happen,” he stated.
Trump reiterated his commitment to defending Christian communities around the world, insisting that his administration would continue to pursue terrorist groups regardless of where they operate.
“So I’m saving Christians throughout the world, even though we are not in those various countries where you read about this,” he said.
He added that the United States would continue using its military capabilities to neutralise terrorist threats.
“But I’m saving them by hitting these terrorists very violently and very hard. We’re hitting them very hard by the greatest weapons on earth, taking them out.
“We know where they are. We hunt them down, and we take them out. They go into a village and they just kill everybody. It’s like crazy,” Trump said.
The US President also warned against what he described as growing threats to religious freedom, claiming that extremist and communist ideologies were working to undermine religious institutions.
“They will close your churches in this country. They go communist, and they’re trying to. They will kill your people, and that’s what they’re about. They want to end religion,” he added.
Trump’s remarks come amid ongoing international concern over insecurity in parts of Nigeria, where armed groups and terrorist organisations have continued to carry out attacks on both civilian and religious communities. However, he did not provide specific details about the military operation he referenced during his speech.
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