Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as the second-in-command of ISIS globally, has been killed in a joint operation by US and Nigerian forces, US President Donald Trump.
The US President said on Friday that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki had been eliminated in a carefully planned mission.
“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 in a post on Truth Social.
He also thanked the Nigerian government for its partnership in the operation. Nigeria had earlier come under scrutiny from Trump, who had said that Christians there were being persecuted, an allegation the African nation’s government denies.
However, Trump did not provide details on the form of attack that killed al-Minuki, whether US forces had carried out air strikes or where the militant leader had been targeted.
US Sanctions In 2023
According to The Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces economic sanctions against individuals and groups such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers, al-Minuki was born in 1982 in Borno State in Nigeria.
Abu-Bilal al-Minuki had been placed under US sanctions in 2023 for ties to the Islamic State group, which maintains a major presence in parts of West Africa.
The US State Department, while designating him on its list of “global terrorists” in 2023, described him as a Sahel-based ISIS senior leader and part of the group’s General Directorate of Provinces, an administrative body providing operational guidance and funding worldwide.
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.
Role Within ISIS
According to Counter Extremism Project, a nonprofit international policy organisation, al-Minuki was based in the Sahel and led officials in the Lake Chad division of ISIS’s General Directorate of Provinces offices.
Al-Minuki had reportedly held a regional commander position within ISIS since the execution of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) leader Mamman Nur in 2018. He was a primary rival to Nur and, as a leading figure in ISWAP, was described as a hardline militant.
Links With Militant Groups
According to regional scholars, al-Minuki had a troubled relationship with Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.
At some point between March 2015 and early 2016, Shekau declined an ISIS request to send fighters to Libya. Instead, al-Minuki, who was serving as ISWAP’s Lake Chad area commander, sent fighters. His actions further deteriorated relations with Shekau, who resented those seeking closer ties with ISIS, Counter Extremism Project said.
(With inputs from agencies)