U.S. President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to make the protection of Christians targeted by ISIS in Nigeria a priority, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Wednesday.
Speaking at a White House cabinet meeting chaired by Trump, Hegseth said the directive came about a year ago after the president heard reports of attacks on Nigerian Christians.
“Maybe a year ago, he heard the call of Nigerian Christians who are being targeted and killed by ISIS in Nigeria,” Hegseth said. “He said, Pete, I want the war department to focus on ensuring that we do whatever we can to protect those Christians.”
Hegseth said the effort has proceeded quietly and that U.S. assets were deployed to the region over the past month. He added that intelligence gathered during the operation contributed to the deaths of hundreds of ISIS fighters linked to attacks on Christians and threats to the U.S. homeland.
“We killed ISIS’ number two in Nigeria, who is most responsible for killing Christians and trying to target the U.S. homeland,” Hegseth said.
He noted that such partnerships take time to develop behind the scenes, and said the president had not wavered on the commitment.
