The U.S. military killed a top ISIS commander in a joint mission with Nigeria, President Donald Trump announced late Friday.He described the mission as “meticulously planned and very complex,” resulting in the death of the “most active terrorist in the world.”“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 wrote on Truth Social. “He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans. With his removal, ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished.”
The president then thanked the Nigerian government for its partnership.
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said the terrorist’s compound was in the Lake Chad Basin, which borders Niger, Chad, and Nigeria. The terrorist leader was deemed a “specially designated global terrorist” by the State Department in 2023.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States “hunted” al-Minuki for months because he was killing Christians. In turn, Hegseth revealed, “we killed him — and his entire posse.”
In November, Trump directed the Department of War to help protect persecuted Christians in Nigeria. That order led to a December airstrike that targeted ISIS militants in the West African country.
