Trump says US, Nigerian forces killed ISIS’s global second-in-command

U.S. and Nigerian Forces Kill ISIS Second-in-Command Abu-Bilal al-Minuki

President Donald Trump announced late Friday that U.S. and Nigerian forces had jointly killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, whom he described as the global second-in-command of ISIS, in a military operation in Nigeria.

“Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”yahoo

A Key Figure in ISIS’s Global Network

Al-Minuki, also known as Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Mainuki, had operated as a senior leader within ISIS’s General Directorate of Provinces, the apparatus through which ISIS core leadership in Iraq and Syria channels funding and operational guidance to affiliates worldwide. Based in the Sahel, he oversaw the al-Furqan Office, one of the group’s most active regional networks, and directed operations in the Lake Chad basin through the Islamic State West Africa Province.counterextremism

The U.S. State Department designated al-Mainuki as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on June 8, 2023, alongside another GDP leader, citing his role in coordinating international support for ISIS terror cells. He had reportedly held a regional command position within the group since the execution of former ISWAP leader Mamman Nur in 2018.westpoint

Broader Counterterrorism Campaign

Trump thanked the Nigerian government for its partnership and said al-Minuki’s removal had “greatly diminished” ISIS’s global operations. The strike is not the first Trump has ordered against ISIS targets in Nigeria. In December, the president directed airstrikes against ISIS militants in northwestern Nigeria, which he described as retaliation for attacks on Christians.abplive

The operation comes amid a sustained Nigerian military campaign against ISWAP and Boko Haram in the country’s northeast. In recent months, Nigerian troops have killed several senior ISWAP commanders, including Abu Khalid in Sambisa Forest in late January and ISWAP Shura Council member Abu Yahya Al-Muhajir, whose death was confirmed in March. In April, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack that killed at least 29 people in Nigeria’s Adamawa state, underscoring the persistent threat posed by the group’s West African affiliates despite ongoing military pressure.guardian