Hegseth Praises U.S. Military Efforts to Protect Nigerian Christians From ISIS
During a cabinet meeting hosted by President Donald J. Trump at the White House today, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth praised recent efforts the U.S. military has made to counter the Islamic State and its ongoing murder of Christians in the African country of Nigeria.
The secretary noted Trump charged the War Department with taking steps to protect the persecuted Christians, who compose roughly one-half of Nigeria's population.
"Maybe a year ago, [the president] heard the call of Nigerian Christians who were being targeted and killed by ISIS. … And he said, 'Pete, I want the War Department to focus on ensuring that we do everything we can to protect those Christians,'" Hegseth explained.
He added that, while forming the partnerships necessary to execute such a mission can take time behind the scenes, the president remained persistent in his tasking, and the proper assets were eventually put in place.
"And, over the past month — and there hasn't been much coverage of this — we killed ISIS' No. 2 [commander], who was most responsible for killing Christians and trying to target the U.S. homeland," Hegseth said.
On May 16, U.S. Africa Command announced via a press release that, at the direction of the president and secretary of war, U.S. forces had conducted an operation that day against ISIS elements in Northeastern Nigeria.
"The command's initial assessment is that multiple terrorists, to include Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the director of global operations for ISIS, as well as other senior ISIS leaders, were killed during this operation. No U.S. service members were harmed," the statement reads.
"This operation underscores the exceptional value of the U.S.-Nigeria partnership and was made possible through the cooperation and coordination of our forces in recent months," Air Force Gen. Dagvin Anderson, Africom commander, is quoted in the release.
"Make no mistake, our two nations will relentlessly pursue and neutralize terrorist threats and are committed to protecting our people and interests," he added.
Hegseth pointed out that, from the outset of U.S. operations against ISIS in Nigeria, high-quality intelligence gathered has led to the elimination of additional "hundreds" of ISIS members who had been killing Christians in that country.
He wrapped up his remarks by underscoring the importance of the president's initiative to protect the Nigerians.
"There's a lot of things we do … and a lot of things the president empowers the department to do on behalf of the American people that he deserves great credit for," Hegseth said.
