The silent nights are over, according to President Donald Trump, who announced “a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria” on Christmas night.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” Trump wrote at 6 p.m. ET on Truth Social.

“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.

“The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing. Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper,” he wrote.

“May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.”

A video posted to social media showed missiles launching from a U.S. warship.

Nigeria’s foreign ‍ministry said Friday local time that ⁠precision airstrikes by ​the United ‍States have hit “terrorist targets” ⁠in the country’s northwest and added ⁠it ​remains ⁠engaged ‍with Washington ‌in “structured security cooperation.”

The Department of War’s U.S.-Africa Command said “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed in an attack in Sokoto state conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities, but few details were provided and it was not clear how many people died.

Last month, Trump said he had ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria following the claims of Christian persecution.

The State Department then announced in recent weeks it would restrict visas for Nigerians and their family members involved in mass killings and violence against Christians in the West African country.

The U.S. recently designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act.

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 over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.

Reuters reported on Monday that the U.S. had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.

Nigeria’s government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and U.S. claims that Christians face persecution do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religious freedom. But it has agreed to work with the U.S. to bolster its forces against terrorist groups.

Nigeria’s population of 220 million is split almost equally between Christians and Muslims.

The country has long faced insecurity from various fronts including the Boko Haram extremist group, which seeks to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law and has also targeted Muslims it deems not Muslim enough.

But attacks in Nigeria often have varying motives.

There are religiously motivated ones targeting both Christians and Muslims, clashes between farmers and herders over dwindling resources, communal rivalries, secessionist groups, and ethnic clashes.

The U.S. security footprint has diminished in Africa, where military partnerships have either been scaled down or canceled.

U.S. forces likely would have to be drawn from other parts of the world for any military intervention in Nigeria.

Trump has nonetheless kept up the pressure as Nigeria faced a series of attacks on schools and churches in violence that experts and residents say targets both Christians and Muslims.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth posted Thursday night on X: “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end.”

Hegseth said that U.S. military forces are “always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas” and added, “More to come…Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation” before signing off, “Merry Christmas!”

The president issued his statement on Christmas Day while he was at his Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago Club, where he has been spending the holiday. He had no public events during the day and was last seen by the reporters traveling with him Wednesday night.

The Nigerian foreign ministry said the country was engaged with international partners against terrorism.

“Nigerian authorities remain engaged in structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States of America, in addressing the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism,” the ministry said in a statement Friday.

An explosion ripped through a mosque in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, killing at least seven worshippers Wednesday. No armed groups immediately claimed responsibility.

The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.