Trump said a coordinated US-Nigeria counter-terror mission in Africa eliminated ISIS leader Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, who allegedly oversaw operations linked to ISWAP and the Sahel region.
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US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, identified as the second-in-command of the Islamic State globally, had been killed during a joint counter-terror operation conducted by American and Nigerian forces in Africa.
The announcement comes amid continuing efforts by Washington and its allies to weaken ISIS networks operating across the Sahel region, where extremist groups have expanded their footprint over the past few years. Trump claimed the operation had significantly damaged the terror outfit’s international operational capabilities.
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In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump said the mission was carried out under his direction and described it as a “meticulously planned and very complex mission”.
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“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.
He further claimed that al-Minuki had been attempting to evade intelligence tracking while operating from Africa.
“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing. He will no longer terrorise the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans. With his removal, ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished,” Trump added.
The US President also thanked the Nigerian government for assisting in the operation.
According to reports cited by IANS, Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, also known as Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Mainuki, was considered among the most senior figures within ISIS’s global leadership structure.
He had reportedly been functioning as the terror outfit’s deputy global commander and played a major role in coordinating operations linked to ISIS affiliates in Africa.
The US Department of State sanctioned him in 2023 under Executive Order 13224, which targets individuals and organisations associated with terrorism-related activities and financing.
A report by the Counter Extremism Project said al-Minuki operated largely across the Sahel region, a vast belt stretching across nearly a dozen African nations that has witnessed rising extremist violence in recent years.
The report also stated that he served as a senior commander within the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and supervised operations linked to the Lake Chad division under ISIS’s General Directorate of Provinces.
The US administration has not yet released operational details regarding the strike or disclosed where exactly the mission was carried out.
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