Christmas strikes… Nigeria discloses the U.S. weapons used against ISIS

Just hours after President Donald Trump spoke about the strikes launched by Washington against ISIS, Nigeria revealed the type of weapons used in those attacks.

The U.S. president said in an interview with Politico magazine, published on Friday, that he was the one who decided the timing of the strikes. He added: “They were going to carry them out earlier, and I said: no, let’s make it a Christmas gift.”

In a statement, Nigerian Information Minister Mohammed Idris announced that the U.S. military used guided missiles launched from drones in the strikes carried out on Christmas Day against terrorists in northwestern Nigeria.

Idris said: “Sixteen precision munitions guided by the Global Positioning System (GPS) were deployed using MQ-9 Reaper drones, which neutralized the targeted ISIS elements who were trying to infiltrate Nigeria through the Sahel corridor.”

Joint attacks

Idris added that the attack was carried out “with the full participation of the Nigerian Armed Forces” and with the explicit approval of President Bola Tinubu.

Trump’s announcement about the strikes raised concerns among Nigerians about a possible threat to their sovereignty.

Information was slow to arrive from rural areas in the states of Sokoto and Kwara in the northwest of the country, which the Nigerian government said had been targeted by the air raids.

Details in the official statements of Nigeria and the United States sometimes conflicted — possibly because Washington backed away from issuing a joint communiqué with Abuja, according to Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar.

In remarks that appeared consistent with a video released by Washington showing shells being fired from a U.S.-flagged warship, Idris said that “the strikes were launched from naval platforms positioned in the Gulf of Guinea, after extensive intelligence gathering, careful operational planning, and thorough reconnaissance.”