ABUJA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has described recent allegations by U.S. President Donald Trump that terrorist attacks in Nigeria were targeted at Christians as "false and dangerous," expressing solidarity with the region's most populous country.

In a statement made available to Xinhua on Wednesday in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, the ECOWAS Commission emphasized that terrorist-related violence does not discriminate based on gender, religion, ethnicity, or age, saying perpetrators of this violence target innocent civilians of all religious denominations, including Muslims, Christians, and adherents to other faiths.

"ECOWAS calls on the United Nations and all partners to support member states in their fight against these groups and to treat as false any claims that these terrorist groups target one group, or that there is a genocide of one religious group in the region," the West African bloc said.

While strongly rejecting the "false and dangerous claims that seek to deepen insecurity in communities and weaken social cohesion in the region," ECOWAS urged the world to stand by the countries in the region in their fight against terrorism that targets all communities.

It also expressed its intention to draw the attention of partners and the international community as a whole to the growing level of violence perpetrated by terrorist groups in some countries in the region, including Nigeria.

The response followed a post by Trump on the social media platform Truth Social on Friday, in which he alleged that thousands of Christians are being killed in Nigeria by "radical Islamists," who are responsible for "this mass slaughter." The U.S. president also declared Nigeria a "country of particular concern."

The Nigerian government had earlier dismissed the U.S. designation as "inaccurate," while reaffirming its commitment to protecting citizens, maintaining religious freedom, and tackling violent extremism. ■