US President Donald Trump announced that American and Nigerian forces have killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the second-in-command of the Islamic State (ISIS) globally.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said: “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 added that al-Minuki “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.” The US president claimed that with his removal, “ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished.”

Al-Minuki, a Nigerian national, was designated a “specially designated global terrorist” by the Biden administration in 2023 and had been under US sanctions for ties to ISIS.

Trump thanked the Nigerian government for its partnership in the operation, though the exact location was not disclosed. The US has previously accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants, a charge Nigeria denies.

The US carried out strikes against ISIS-linked militants in Nigeria in December and has since deployed drones and 200 troops in a non-combat role to provide training and intelligence support against ISIS and al-Qaeda-linked insurgencies spreading across West Africa.

Source: www.theguardian.com