Trump says there could be more US strikes in Nigeria

US President Donald Trump said there could be more strikes by the US in Nigeria if Christians are killed in the African nation, even as Nigeria has previously denied that Christians there are subjected to systematic persecution, Report informs referring to The Straits Times.

Trump's comments in an interview with the New York Times were published on the newspaper's website on January 8.

Trump made the remarks when asked about Washington's Christmas Day military strike in Nigeria. The US military said at the time it carried out a strike against Islamic State militants in north-west 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."