U.S. President Says ISIS Second-in-Command Killed by U.S. and Nigerian Forces

PBS News

U.S. President Donald Trump.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the second-in-command of ISIS globally, had been killed in an operation carried out by U.S. 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.

Al-Minuki, a Nigerian national, was designated as a "specially ‌designated ⁠global terrorist" by the former Biden administration in 2023, according to the U.S. Federal Register.

President Trump thanked the Nigerian government for its partnership in the operation.

The United States previously carried out strikes targeting Islamic State-linked militants in Nigeria in December. Since then, Washington has deployed drones and 200 troops to provide training and intelligence support to the Nigerian military in its fight against Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked insurgencies spreading across West Africa.



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