Donald Trump said a joint US-Nigerian operation killed senior ISIS figure Abu-Bilal al-Minuki.
US authorities had previously designated Minuki as a global terrorist linked to extremist activity in the Sahel.
The Sahel region has become a major centre of insurgent violence involving ISIS- and Al-Qaeda-linked groups.
Trump Says Joint US-Nigerian Raid Killed Abu-Bilal-al-Biluki, Global Second in Command of ISIS
Hailing the operations he thanked the Nigerian Government for its partnership on the operation and added that Minuki will “no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans"
Summary
US President Donald Trump announced that In a joint operation by American and Nigerian armed forces, Abu-Bilal-al-Minuki, the second in command of ISIS globally has been eliminated 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. 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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Hailing the operations he thanked the Nigerian Government for its partnership on the operation and added that Minuki will “no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”
Who is Abu-Bilal-Al-Minuki?
Abu-Bilial-al-Minuki was a high-ranking terrorist who was the global second in command of the ISIS. A Nigerian citizen, Minuki was active in the Sahel region of Africa and was named as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2023 by the US Department of State.
The Sahel is a semi-arid transitional zone in Africa stretching 5,900 km across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. It separates the arid Sahara Desert to the north from the humid Sudanian savannas to the south.
It includes countries such as Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Sudan, Gambia, Guinea, Cameroon, and Eritrea.
The region faces profound political instability, with insurgencies and armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State severely impacting local security.
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