Category: US News

The United States has carried out airstrikes against a group of fighters linked to the Islamic State in northwestern Nigeria. These fighters have been trying to take control of the area.

The U.S. military attacked camps in Sokoto State, near the border with Niger. They found that several people may have been killed in the strikes.

President Donald Trump called the strikes strong and said the fighters were dangerous people who target innocent Christians.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar said this was a joint operation and it wasn’t about any one religion.

He also mentioned that they had planned the strikes for a long time and used information from Nigeria. More strikes could happen in the future.

Tuggar explained that the timing of the attacks wasn’t because of Christmas; it was about stopping terrorists who harm Nigerians.

For years, the Nigerian government has been fighting different groups that cause violence, especially in the northeast part of the country, which is far from Sokoto State.

U.S. Attacked Late Thursday Night

Eyewitness Umar Jabo told BBC News that the attack happened late Thursday night near the village of Jabo. He explained, “Everyone thought it was a plane. It crashed in the fields.”

His statement was supported by images on social media, showing local people filming the burning aftermath in a field.

Umar Jabo also said that no ISIS fighters were killed, adding, “Here in Jabo, we live peacefully, and there is no conflict between Christians and us.”

The Trump administration has accused the Nigerian government of not protecting Christians from attacks by jihadists, claiming that a “genocide” is happening.

Trump has called Nigeria a “country of particular concern.” This label, used by the U.S. State Department, allows for sanctions against countries that violate religious freedom severely.

In November, the U.S. military was ordered to prepare for potential intervention in Nigeria.

During that time, an adviser to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu stated in an interview with BBC News that militants were targeting individuals from various faiths. The adviser emphasized that any military action taken by the U.S. should be conducted jointly with Nigerian forces.

No Evidence that Christians are Being Killed More Than Muslims

Groups that monitor violence in Nigeria report there is no proof that Christians are being killed more than Muslims. The country has roughly equal numbers of both religions.

On Christmas Day, Trump announced airstrikes, saying he would “not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thanked the Nigerian government for its support. He also wished everyone a “Merry Christmas!” in a post on X.

The U.S. Department of Defense shared a video showing a missile being launched from a ship.

On Friday morning, the Nigerian foreign ministry said the country is working closely with international partners, including the United States, to fight terrorism and violence.

This cooperation has led to successful strikes against terrorist targets in the Northwest.

Jihadist groups, like Boko Haram and their IS-connected branches, have caused trouble in northeastern Nigeria for over a decade, killing thousands of people. Reports from Acled show that most victims are Muslims.

Bulama Bukati, a Nigerian human rights lawyer and conflict analyst, thinks Thursday’s strikes hit a new IS-aligned group that came from the Sahel region and moved to Nigeria.

Bukati explained that the largest IS-linked group in Nigeria, the Islamic State West Africa Province, operates in the northeast. The smaller group, called Lakurawa, wants to establish a base in Sokoto state in the Northwest.

“They started entering Nigeria in 2018, but in the last 18 months to two years, they have set up camps in Sokoto and Kebbi states,” he said. “They have been attacking people and imposing their rules in Sokoto state during this time.”

Local official Bashar Isah Jabo said there are no IS or Lakurawa members in the village. He added that the missile landed less than 500 meters (1,600 feet) from a local hospital.

Daily U.S. Reconnaissance Flights in Sokoto

A pro-ISIS social media channel reports that U.S. reconnaissance flights are occurring almost daily in Sokoto and in Borno, the northeastern state where Nigeria’s largest ISIS-linked group operates.

In central Nigeria, clashes occur frequently between mostly Muslim herders and farming groups, who are often Christian, over water and pasture access. Conflicts like these create ongoing violence, leading to many deaths. Both sides commit brutal acts.

Recently, the U.S. military has launched two major operations against ISIS. Last week, it carried out a large strike on ISIS in Syria. U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said that fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery attacked over 70 targets in multiple locations across central Syria, with aircraft from Jordan also participating in the operation. These strikes were in retaliation for the deaths of three Americans, two soldiers and a civilian interpreter, who were killed in an ambush by the group.

The United States Department of the Treasury has announced new sanctions against several family members and associates of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as the Trump administration intensifies its pressure on Caracas and continues to bolster US forces along Venezuela’s borders.

These sanctions, announced on Friday, coincide with ongoing US military actions targeting vessels off Venezuela’s coast, which have resulted in over 100 fatalities. The US military has also seized a Venezuelan oil tanker and imposed a naval blockade on all ships arriving or departing from Venezuelan ports that are under US sanctions.

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said that Maduro and his helpers are a threat to our safety in the Americas. He also mentioned that the Trump administration will keep going after the people who help Maduro’s unfair government.

The latest sanctions focus on seven individuals who are either family members or associates of Malpica Flores, a nephew of Maduro, along with Panamanian businessman Ramon Carretero. These individuals were named in a previous round of US sanctions that also targeted six Venezuela-flagged oil tankers and shipping companies on December 11.

Flores, one of Maduro’s three nephews by marriage, is referred to as one of the “narco-nephews” by the US Treasury Department and is wanted for being “repeatedly linked to corruption” at Venezuela’s state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, SA, according to a Treasury statement.

It remains unclear how Flores’s involvement with the state-run oil company is connected to efforts to support “Nicolas Maduro’s rogue narco-state,” which Bessent mentioned as a justification for extending sanctions to additional family members and associates of the president.

Venezuela’s Oil Belongs to the United States

The United States has stated that its increased military actions in the region since September, including attacks on ships in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean, are mainly focused on fighting drug trafficking. However, international law experts believe these actions could be considered extrajudicial killings.

Even though the administration keeps talking about drug trafficking, its actions and messages seem more directed at Venezuela’s large oil reserves, which are the biggest in the world. These reserves have mostly remained untouched since the United States imposed sanctions during Trump’s first term.

Homeland Security adviser and Trump aide Stephen Miller stated last week that Venezuela’s oil belongs to the United States. On X, he claimed, “American sweat, ingenuity, and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela.” He added that its “tyrannical expropriation” was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property.

The US has put rules that hurt Venezuela’s oil industry, making the country’s problems worse and people unhappy with President Maduro, who has been in charge since 2013.

Maduro says these rules are meant to change his government and take Venezuela’s oil.

The European Union also set similar rules, which will last until 2027. These rules stop Venezuela from getting weapons and some people can’t travel or use their money because of what they did to others.

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday an $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan, marking the largest U.S. weapons package ever offered to the island amid increasing military pressure from China.

This arms sale is the second one during President Donald Trump’s current administration and comes as Beijing intensifies its military and diplomatic pressure against Taiwan, which rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty.

The proposed arms sales include eight items, such as HIMARS rocket systems, howitzers, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Altius loitering munition drones, and parts for additional equipment, according to a statement from Taiwan’s defense ministry.

“The United States continues to assist Taiwan in maintaining sufficient self-defense capabilities, rapidly building strong deterrent power, and leveraging asymmetric warfare advantages, all of which are fundamental to maintaining regional peace and stability,” the ministry added.

The package must be approved by the U.S. Congress, where Taiwan enjoys widespread bipartisan support.

The Pentagon announced that the recent arms deal supports U.S. interests in national security, economy, and safety. The sales will help Taiwan modernize its armed forces and keep a strong defense.

Encouraged by the United States, Taiwan has been working to transform its armed forces to engage in “asymmetric warfare,” utilizing mobile, smaller, and often less expensive weapons that still deliver effective strikes, such as drones.

“Our country will continue to promote defense reforms, strengthen whole-of-society defense resilience, demonstrate our determination to defend ourselves, and safeguard peace through strength,” stated Karen Kuo, spokesperson for Taiwan’s presidential office, while expressing gratitude to the U.S. for the arms sales.

$40 Billion 2026 Supplementary Defense

Last month, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te announced a $40 billion defense budget for 2026 to 2033. He emphasized that there can be no compromise on national security.

China’s foreign ministry reacted strongly, as it does with all U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. They said these deals endanger peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and demanded that the U.S. stop these transactions. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the ministry, warned that by supporting Taiwan’s independence with weapons, the U.S. would create problems for itself and that using Taiwan to limit China’s power will ultimately fail.

Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, stated that weapons like the HIMARS, which have been used by Ukraine against Russia, could help defend against a Chinese invasion. He added that this new package of U.S. security assistance for Taiwan is a response to China’s threats and reflects a call from Mr. Trump for allies to take more responsibility for their own defense.

Foreign Minister’s US Visit

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Lin Chia-lung, traveled to the Washington area last week to meet with U.S. officials. This trip was not announced in advance, according to two sources who spoke to Reuters but wished to remain anonymous.

It is unclear what was discussed in these meetings, and Taiwan’s foreign ministry has chosen not to comment.

The U.S. has formal diplomatic ties with China but maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan and is its main supplier of arms. U.S. law requires that Taiwan be provided with the means to defend itself, which creates tension with China.

Former President Trump’s focus on deal-making and his planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next year have raised concerns about potential weakening of U.S. support for Taiwan. However, U.S. officials told Reuters at the beginning of Trump’s second term that they planned to increase weapons sales to Taiwan beyond the levels of his first term. This is part of an effort to deter China.

The Trump administration’s national security strategy, released earlier this month, stated that the U.S. aims to prevent conflict over Taiwan by keeping military strength in the region. This statement was positively received in Taipei.

The strategy also noted Taiwan’s importance due to its location, which separates Northeast and Southeast Asia. China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory, a claim that Taiwan rejects.

United States forces have killed five more individuals aboard vessels in the Pacific Ocean, raising the death toll from the Trump administration’s military campaign against alleged seaborne drug traffickers to at least 104 since September.

The US military’s Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced on Friday that it carried out “lethal kinetic strikes on two vessels” in the eastern Pacific at the instruction of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, resulting in the death of three people in one vessel and two in another.

Thursday’s attack by US forces followed a strike on another vessel the previous day, which also occurred in international waters in the eastern Pacific and resulted in the death of four individuals, according to SOUTHCOM.

While the US military categorized the nine victims of the recent attacks as “male narco-terrorists,” Washington has not provided evidence that the nearly 30 vessels destroyed since September in the Pacific and Caribbean were involved in drug trafficking.

The Secretary of Defense, Hegseth, is getting a lot of criticism. People say he ordered a second attack on survivors who were holding on to pieces of a ship after an earlier attack. Experts say it is wrong to attack people who are already in trouble.

Latin American leaders and legal experts have condemned the US attacks as “extrajudicial killings,” while Trump has attempted to justify the killings as necessary to combat drug trafficking into the US from Latin American drug cartels, particularly those based in Venezuela.

Trump has also ordered a significant military deployment to Latin America and threatened to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, accusing him of overseeing a drug trafficking cartel.

Total Vanal Blocade of All Oil Tankers

Earlier this week, Trump escalated tensions by ordering a “total” naval blockade of all oil tankers under US sanctions from entering or leaving Venezuelan ports, a move designed to restrict the country’s oil resources and cripple its economy.

Maduro has condemned Washington’s military mobilization and accused Trump of using the fight against drug trafficking as a pretext for “regime change” in Venezuela and for seizing the country’s oil reserves.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated on Thursday that he is willing to mediate between the US and Venezuela to “avoid armed conflict.” Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum also offered to act as a mediator to find “a peaceful solution so that there is no US intervention.”

Lula, one of Latin America’s most influential leaders, expressed that Brazil is “very worried” about the escalating crisis between Washington and Caracas. He told reporters that he informed Trump that “things wouldn’t be resolved by shooting; it is better to sit down around a table to find a solution.”

“I am at the disposal of both Venezuela and the US to contribute to a peaceful resolution on our continent,” he added.

Lula also voiced concern about the underlying motivations behind the campaign.

“It can’t just be about overthrowing Maduro. What are the other interests that we don’t yet know about?” he questioned, noting that he did not know whether it was related to Venezuela’s oil, critical minerals, or rare earths.

“Nobody ever states concretely why this war is necessary,” he remarked.

According to The Associated Press, around 15,000 US personnel are now involved in the operation, marking the largest military buildup in Latin America in generations, alongside 11 warships, including the US’s largest aircraft carrier, and a squadron of advanced US Marine Corps F-35 fighter jets, in addition to other planes and drones.