In a message posted on his Truth Social network, Donald Trump announced on Saturday, May 16th, that the American and Nigerian armies have eliminated the number two in Daesh, Abu-Bilal al-Minuki.
Donald Trump announced on Friday that US and Nigerian forces had killed a leader of the Daesh group based in the violence-prone African country.
“Tonight, on my instructions, the brave American forces and the Nigerian armed forces carried out a meticulously planned and highly complex mission to eliminate the world’s most active terrorist from the battlefield,” declared the American president on his Truth Social network.
“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, number two in ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but he did not know that we had sources that kept us informed of everything he was doing,” he added.
Abu-Bilal al-Minuki had been placed under American sanctions in 2023 for his ties to ISIS. Washington claimed that this man, also known as Abu Bakr al-Mainuki, was born in 1982 and was from the state of Borno in northeastern Nigeria.
“With his elimination, the operational capabilities of ISIS around the world are significantly reduced,” assured Donald Trump.
The northern part of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, faces dual insecurity: the violence of jihadist groups and attacks by criminal gangs, locally known as “bandits,” who frequently carry out attacks on villages and mass kidnappings for ransom.
The increase in deadly attacks and mass kidnappings in recent months has drawn the attention of the United States. President Donald Trump claims that Christians in Nigeria are “persecuted” and victims of a “genocide” perpetrated by “terrorists,” a claim vehemently denied by Abuja and most experts, as the violence generally affects Christians and Muslims indifferently.
The American military, in coordination with Nigerian authorities, conducted strikes in the state of Sokoto on Christmas Day targeting Daesh jihadists, according to Washington. Since then, military cooperation between the two countries has strengthened.
