The United States carried out an airstrike against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria yesterday at the request of Nigeria’s government, US President Donald Trump said, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in the region. Trump said in a post on social Media that the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorists in Northwest Nigeria.

The US military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out at the request of the Nigerian authorities in northwest Nigeria and killed multiple ISIS militants. The strike comes after Trump, starting in late October, began warning that Christianity faces an existential threat in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene in the West African country.