US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, was killed in an operation conducted by US and Nigerian forces.
"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. Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing," Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump did not disclose in his post the exact location of the operation.
Al-Minuki, a Nigerian national, was designated as a "specially designated global terrorist" by the former Biden administration in 2023, according to the US Federal Register.
Trump scrutinizes Nigeria over persecution of Christians
Trump, who has previously accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants in the northwest, thanked the Nigerian government for its partnership in the operation.
Nigeria denies discriminating against any religion, saying its security forces target armed groups that attack both Christians and Muslims.
The US had struck what it said were Islamist bases in northwestern Nigeria on Christmas Day last year, following Trump's accusations.
“They were going to do it earlier,” Trump told Politico in an interview at the time. “And I said, ‘Nope, let’s give a Christmas present.’ … They didn’t think that was coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp got decimated.”
Shortly following the strike, Trump made a social media post announcing that the operation had been successful, in which he wished "MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists."
Since then, Washington has deployed drones and 200 troops to provide training and intelligence support to the Nigerian military against Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked insurgencies that are spreading across West Africa.
The US forces were operating in a strictly non-combat role, Nigerian military officials said earlier this year.
Goldie Katz contributed to this report.