U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that American and Nigerian forces had killed a senior Islamic State commander during a joint military operation in Nigeria, describing the target as one of the world’s most wanted terrorists.
Trump said Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, whom he identified as the second-in-command leader of ISIS globally, was killed after intelligence sources tracked him to a hideout in Africa.
“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 social media.
He added that al-Minuki “thought he could hide in Africa,” but intelligence operatives had monitored his activities closely.
“He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa or help plan operations to target Americans,” Trump said, while thanking the Nigerian government for its cooperation in the operation.
Neither the Nigerian government nor the Nigerian military immediately issued an official statement on the operation. The Islamic State group also did not comment on Trump’s claim.
The announcement comes amid heightened U.S. counterterrorism operations in West Africa and renewed scrutiny of security conditions in Nigeria.
Trump had previously accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from persecution, an allegation repeatedly denied by the Nigerian government. The United States also carried out airstrikes it said targeted Islamist bases in northwestern Nigeria on Christmas Day last year following the accusations.
Nigeria has battled insurgencies linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province and other extremist factions for more than a decade, particularly in the country’s northeast and parts of the northwest.
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