Trump announces ISIS Second-in-Command killed in US-Nigeria operation
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that US and Nigerian forces eliminated “the most active terrorist in the world” Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, whom he claimed was “second in command” of the Islamic State (ISIS) globally.
“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,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“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 continued.
Minuki is listed by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as an alias of Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, a Nigerian individual born in 1982 under sanctions for his involvement with the extremist group.
Jihadist factions, many who are affiliated with ISIS, have exploited weak borders and profound local poverty in the region to emerge as a transnational threat across Mali, Burkina Faso, northern Nigeria, Niger, and the Lake Chad Basin.
