Photo: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP
A senior leader of the Islamic State (Isis), described as “the most active terrorist in the world”, has been killed in a joint operation by US and Nigerian forces in Nigeria.
Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, who has been under US sanctions since 2023, was according to Pres. Donald Trump worldwide second in command of Isis.
The death of Al-Minuki comes amid increasing Isis activity in Africa. According to a report by global conflict monitor ACLED released this week, Africa represented a record high of 86% of the group’s global activity in the first quarter, up from 49% during all of 2024.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that “brave American forces and the Nigerian military at my command flawlessly executed a carefully planned and very complicated mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world”.
The Nigerian military described Al-Minuki as “a senior Isis leader and one of the world’s most active terrorists”.
According to the Nigerian military and the US Africa Command (Africom), as director of global operations for IS, Al-Minuki provided strategic guidance on media and financial operations, as well as the “development and production of weapons, explosives and drones”.
(Foto: Alex Wong / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)
“Al-Minuki was the most active terrorist in the world and had a significant history of involvement in planning attacks and kidnappings,” Africom said.
“Nigerian armed forces, working closely with the US military, carried out a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State,” said Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s president.
Tinubu confirmed that Al-Minuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, died along with his deputies “at his base in the Lake Chad Basin”, an unstable region spanning Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
The Nigerian military said the operation was a “carefully planned and highly complex operation” carried out shortly after midnight on Saturday.
Nigerian army spokesman Uba Sani said Al-Minuki had established a “hidden and fortified stronghold” in a remote village in the northeastern state of Borno. The region is the epicenter of an armed insurgency that has been going on for 17 years.