By Our Correspondent
President Donald Trump announced early Thursday morning that American special operations forces, working alongside Nigeria’s military, have killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki — described by the president as the global second-in-command of the Islamic State (ISIS).
“U.S. Forces and the Military of Nigeria just completed a complex mission that took out Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, ISIS’s second-in-command worldwide,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“He was the most active terrorist in the world, and he thought he could hide in Africa — but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
The post, published around 11:30 p.m. Eastern, did not specify the precise location or date of the operation. However, it is believed to have occurred in the past 48 hours in a remote area of West Africa, likely in northern Nigeria or the Lake Chad basin region, where ISIS-affiliated factions have long operated.
Al-Minuki, a figure who has been on U.S. and international wanted lists for years, was considered a key operational commander responsible for coordinating attacks, financing, and recruitment across multiple continents. Intelligence officials previously assessed that he had relocated his headquarters from the Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa as ISIS lost territory in Syria and Iraq.
Counterterrorism experts said the killing of al-Minuki represents one of the most significant leadership decapitations of the Islamic State since the death of its former caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a 2019 U.S. raid in Syria.
“If Trump’s claim is accurate, this removes a central node in ISIS’s global network,” said Dr. Mina Abdel-Wahed, a senior fellow at the Institute for International Security in Washington. “Al-Minuki was not just a figurehead; he was an active planner. His death will disrupt operations for months, though ISIS has proven resilient.”
Trump’s post praised the cooperation between U.S. and Nigerian forces, saying the mission was made possible by “incredible intelligence sharing” and “deeply placed sources on the ground.”
The president did not elaborate on whether any U.S. or Nigerian personnel were killed or injured, nor did he provide visual evidence of the operation.
The Nigerian government has not yet officially commented on the operation. A spokesperson for the Nigerian Defence Headquarters told The Associated Press early Thursday that they were “reviewing the information” and would issue a statement later in the day.
Nigeria has been battling Islamist insurgencies for more than a decade, including Boko Haram and a local ISIS affiliate known as ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province). The United States maintains a small contingent of special operations forces in the region to train and assist local troops.
The late-night announcement is consistent with Trump’s pattern of using social media to deliver major national security news directly to the public, bypassing traditional press briefings. In the post, he also took the opportunity to jab at critics: “The Fake News Media will try to downplay this, but we got the worst of the worst. No one thought it could be done.”
The White House did not immediately release any additional details, but a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that “President Trump was closely monitoring the operation in real-time” and that the decision to announce came after “thorough confirmation of the target’s identity.”
Analysts note that while the loss of al-Minuki is a major tactical victory, ISIS’s global insurgency has become increasingly decentralised. The group’s leadership in Africa — particularly in the Sahel and West Africa — has grown more autonomous.
