US President Donald Trump says American and Nigerian forces have killed a senior Islamic State group leader.
“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 said on Truth Social.
“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 added.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu also confirmed the killing, saying Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, was killed “along with several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin”.
Al-Minuki had been placed under US sanctions in 2023 for ties to the Islamic State group.
“He will no longer terrorise the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans,” Trump said.
“With his removal, Isis’ global operation is greatly diminished.”
Trump thanked the Government of Nigeria for their “partnership” in the operation.
The US State Department, when announcing al-Minuki’s designation on the American government list of “global terrorists” in 2023, called him a Sahel-based Isis senior leader and part of its General Directorate of Provinces, the group’s administrative body that provides “operational guidance and funding around the world”.
President Tinubu and the West African country’s military on Saturday confirmed the killing.
“Our determined Nigerian Armed Forces, working closely with the Armed Forces of the United States, conducted a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State,” Tinubu said in a statement.
Tinubu said in a statement that Al-Manuki was killed “along with several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin”.
The military described him as an “operational and strategic figure who provided guidance to Isis entities outside Nigeria on matters relating to media operations, economic warfare and the development and manufacturing of weapons, explosives and drones”.
His “death removes a critical node through which ISIS coordinated and directed operations across different regions of the world”, it said.
Nigeria is battling jihadist insurgents, including regional offshoots of the IS organisation as well as Islamist rival Boko Haram. It has also carried out strikes and operations against non-ideological violent gangs of criminals known as “bandits”.
Since late 2025, the Nigerian Government has been under pressure from the United States, which has accused it of not doing enough to combat the Islamist militant threat.
On Christmas Day, the United States, in collaboration with Nigerian authorities, carried out airstrikes in northwestern Sokoto State targeting fighters from the Islamic State in the Sahel group, usually active in neighbouring Niger.
Washington has since deployed hundreds of troops to Nigeria to support and train its forces.
- AFP