US and Nigerian forces carried out joint military strikes that eliminated a senior ISIS official in Nigeria, according to statements from Nigerian and US officials, in a “strategic” blow to the organization.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said in a statement on Saturday that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was killed “along with several of his lieutenants” in a joint strike with the US on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin in the Borno state of Northeastern Nigeria.
Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was the “second in command of ISIS globally” and “the most active terrorist in the world,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social following the strikes.
The following day after the initial strike on al-Minuki’s compound, US and Nigerian forces returned with more strikes on ISIS positions in Northeast Nigeria, eliminating militants in the region. No Nigerian or US personnel were harmed in either of the operations.
The joint military operations in Nigeria take place as ISIS has shifted its focus to the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa, with nearly 90% of its attacks taking place there, according to reporting from the BBC.
The group's focus on the Sahel has taken place in coordination with Boko Haram’s long-running campaign in the Borno state of Nigeria. Boko Haram began its campaign to impose Islamic rule in Nigeria in 2009 and has continued since it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015.
Who was Abu-Bilal al-Minuki?
Before Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS, al-Minuki was a senior-level leader in the group, according to intelligence released by the Nigerian Army.
Nigerian officials classified al-Minuki as a “key” operational figure for ISIS’s terror operations around the world.
“Al-Minuki provided strategic guidance to the ISIS global network on media and financial operations as well as the development and manufacturing of weapons, explosives, and drones,” the statement read. “His death removes a critical node through which ISIS coordinated and directed operations across different regions of the world.”
Nigerian Army intelligence has also stated that al-Minuki has been a part of attacks against “ethnic and religious minority communities.” In 2018, he was linked to the kidnapping of 110 school girls in Nigeria’s Northeastern Yobe State. Of the victims, five girls were killed during the ordeal, 101 were returned, and one remains missing.