Donald Trump Announces Killing of Senior ISIS Leader Abu-Bilal al-Minuki in Joint US-Nigeria Operation
US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as the second-in-command of ISIS globally, was killed during a joint military operation carried out by American and Nigerian forces.
In a post shared on Truth Social, Trump said the operation was conducted under his direction and involved a highly coordinated mission aimed at eliminating what he called “the most active terrorist in the world.”
According to Trump, al-Minuki had been hiding in Africa but was tracked through intelligence sources that closely monitored his activities. He praised both the US military and the Nigerian Armed Forces for successfully carrying out the operation.
Trump also said the killing of al-Minuki would significantly weaken ISIS’s global network and reduce its ability to plan attacks, including operations targeting Americans.
He thanked the Nigerian government for its cooperation and partnership during the mission.
Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was born in Nigeria’s Borno state in 1982 and had long been linked to extremist activities in the region.
The United States officially designated him as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” on June 8, 2023, alongside another senior ISIS leader, Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufay’i.
According to the Counter Extremism Project, al-Minuki became an influential figure within the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) after the killing of ISWAP chief Mamman Nur in 2018.
He was widely viewed as one of Nur’s main rivals and later rose to prominence within the organisation as a hardline militant commander.
Experts on regional extremism have also pointed to his troubled relationship with former Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.
Reports suggest that between 2015 and 2016, Shekau refused an ISIS directive to send fighters to Libya. During that period, al-Minuki, who was serving as ISWAP’s Lake Chad area commander, reportedly facilitated the deployment instead.
The move is believed to have deepened divisions between al-Minuki and Shekau, who strongly opposed closer operational ties with ISIS leadership.
It is still unclear exactly when al-Minuki became the head of ISIS’s al-Furqan Office, considered one of the group’s most established regional operational networks.
These regional offices play a major role in guiding ISIS affiliates and helping them secure international funding and strategic support.
The al-Furqan Office oversees ISIS-linked activities in Nigeria and neighbouring regions, including operations connected to the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) network active across parts of the western Sahel.
