Trump tells New York Times US could strike Nigeria again

President Donald Trump said there could be more strikes by the U.S. in Nigeria if Christians are killed in the African nation, even as Nigeria has previously denied Christians there are subjected to systematic persecution.

Trump’s comments in an interview with the New York Times were published on the newspaper’s website on Thursday.

Trump made the remarks when asked about Washington’s Christmas Day military strike in Nigeria. The U.S. military said at the time it carried out a strike against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria’s government.

Nigeria said then that the strike was a “joint operation” targeting “terrorists,” and had “nothing to do with a particular religion.”

“I’d love to make it a one-time strike … But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike,” Trump was quoted as saying.

When asked about his own Africa adviser having said that Islamic State and Boko Haram militants were killing more Muslims than Christians, Trump responded: “I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians.”