US President Donald Trump says American and Nigerian forces have killed the second-in-command leader of ISIS.
Mr Trump said Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was “eliminated” after sources found him in hiding in Africa. He did not disclose the exact location of the operation.
“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,” he wrote in a post on social media.
“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.
“He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”
He also thanked the Nigerian government for its partnership in the operation.
The Islamic State extremist group has not commented on the claim.
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.
Nigeria had come under scrutiny from Mr Trump, who had said that Christians there were being persecuted, which the African nation’s government denies.
The US forces were operating in a strictly non-combat role, Nigerian military officials said earlier this year.
The US had struck what it said were Islamist bases in north-western Nigeria on Christmas Day last year, following Mr Trump’s accusations.
(ABC News)
