New U.S. military operations in Africa would most likely target jihadist groups in West Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique, but Washington could also conduct limited strikes in Sudan or Congo to force local belligerents to de-escalate fighting in a less-likely, higher-impact scenario. On Christmas Day 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States had struck Islamic State-linked militants in Nigeria's northwestern state of Sokoto, blaming the militants for having killed Christians for "many years, and even centuries." On Jan. 8, Trump said that while he would "love" for the recent U.S. military action in Nigeria to be a "one-time strike," it would be a "many-time strike" if more Christians were killed in the country. These comments came amid escalating attacks by jihadist groups, such as Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), against Christian communities in Nigeria following the U.S. strikes in Sokoto. They also...
