A second ISIS leader has been killed by US and Nigerian forces, the presidents said
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Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the second-in-command of ISIS in the world, was killed in an operation by US and Nigerian soldiers in the northeast of the African country, said US President Donald Trump and his counterpart in Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Trump announced the strike in a Truth Social post late Friday in the United States, Tinubu on Saturday describing it as “an important example of effective cooperation in the fight against terrorism.”
“Today, at my command, the brave American forces and the Nigerian Armed Forces carried out a well-planned and very complex operation to eliminate most of the terrorists in the world on the battlefield. Abu-Bilal al-Minuki … thought he could hide in Africa, but he did not know that we have sources that have been doing it,” Trump said about what he was doing.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, Tinubu said an early investigation confirmed the elimination of Minuki – also known as Abu-Mainok – and several of his superiors, during the strike in his area in the Lake Chad Basin.
Tinubu said the Nigerian military is working closely with the US military in what he called a joint operation that has caused significant damage to ISIS. Trump, who once accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamic insurgents, thanked the Nigerian government for its cooperation in the project.
A counter-insurgency measure
The Nigerian Army, which is also in X, said the strike took place in Metele in Borno State, where the military carried out a ground-breaking operation in collaboration with the US Africa Command (AFRICOM).
Borno has endured an insurgency by Boko Haram and its splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province, for 17 years that have killed thousands of people and displaced two million people.
The latest operation, carried out under Nigeria’s ongoing counter-insurgency plan, began at about 12:01 a.m. and ended at about 4 a.m. Saturday, the military said, adding that no one was injured or property lost.
Minuki, a Nigerian national, was designated a “specially designated global terrorist” by the administration of former president Joe Biden in 2023, according to the US Federal Register.
Nigeria denies discrimination against any religion, saying its security forces target armed groups that attack Christians and Muslims.
The US carried out strikes against ISIS-linked terrorists in Nigeria in December. Since then, Washington has sent drones and 200 troops to provide training and intelligence support to the Nigerian military against ISIS and al Qaeda affiliates spread across West Africa.
US troops were operating as part of a non-combat operation, Nigerian military officials said earlier this year.
