Nigerian and United States forces have carried out what appears to be their second publicly known joint anti-ISIS operation in Nigeria, targeting senior militant leader Abu Bilal al-Minuki in a renewed counterterrorism push across the Lake Chad Basin.
US President Donald Trump announced yesterday that a joint operation between Nigerian and United States military forces in the Lake Chad Basin killed the global "second-in-command" of ISIS.
President Trump made the announcement on his official Truth Social account, stating, “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.”
He further referenced leveraging intelligence reports from those monitoring the terrorist's movements, adding that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
Nigerian leader, Tinubu responds
