A senior official of the Islamic State group, described as “one of the most active terrorists in the world,” was killed in Nigeria during a joint operation with the United States, the presidents of both countries announced on Saturday.
The attack targeted Abou Bilal al-Minuki, who was sanctioned by the United States in 2023 for his ties to the Islamic State (IS) group and was identified by Donald Trump as the second in command of the jihadist organization worldwide.
“Tonight, on my orders, the brave American forces and the Nigerian military carried out a meticulously planned and highly complex mission to eliminate the world’s most active terrorist from the battlefield,” said the American president on his Truth Social network.
This is the second time in five months that he has launched a military intervention in Nigeria, a West African country plagued by jihadist violence, where he has denounced alleged persecutions against Christians.
“For months, we tracked this senior Islamic State leader in Nigeria, who was killing Christians, and we have killed him – along with his entire gang,” praised the American Defense Minister on the social network X.
Abou Bilal al-Minuki is described by Nigerian forces and the U.S. Africa Command (Africom) as “a rational and strategic figure who provided advice to Islamic State entities outside Nigeria on issues related to media operations, economic warfare, and the development and production of weapons, explosives, and drones.”
“Our determined Nigerian armed forces, working closely with the U.S. military, carried out a bold joint operation that struck a serious blow to the ranks of the Islamic State,” said Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, confirming Donald Trump’s announcement.
“Precision air-ground operation”
According to the Nigerian army, this was a “precision air-ground operation, meticulously planned and extremely complex,” which took place on Saturday between midnight and 4:00 a.m.
The jihadist leader was killed “along with several of his lieutenants, in a strike against his compound in the Lake Chad basin,” the Nigerian president said.
According to Nigerian defense forces, the death of Abou Bilal al-Minuki “eliminates a vital link through which the Islamic State coordinated and directed its operations in different regions of the world.”
The spokesman for the Nigerian army, Sani Uba, stated that the operation was carried out based on intelligence indicating that al-Minuki and his international terrorist cell had concealed a fortified enclave in a remote village of Metele, located in the Lake Chad basin, in the northeast of Borno state, the epicenter of an armed insurgency that has lasted for 17 years.
According to Washington, this man, also known as Abou Bakr al-Mainuki, was born in 1982 in Borno state, northeast Nigeria.
“He will no longer terrorize”
“With his elimination, the operational capabilities of IS worldwide are significantly reduced,” assured Mr. Trump. “He will no longer terrorize the African population or contribute to planning operations against Americans,” he added.
The northern part of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, faces a dual insecurity: on the one hand, the violence of jihadist groups, and on the other hand, that of criminal gangs, locally known as “bandits,” who frequently carry out attacks on villages and mass kidnappings for ransom.
The escalation of deadly attacks and abductions in recent months has caught 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 that Abuja and most experts strongly deny, as the violence generally affects both Christians and Muslims indiscriminately.
The U.S. military, in coordination with Nigerian authorities, had previously carried out strikes on Christmas Day in Sokoto state (northwest) targeting, according to Washington, Islamic State jihadists.
According to a recent report by the ACLED NGO, which tracks conflict-related casualties worldwide, IS is increasingly focusing its activities on the African continent.
AFP
