President Donald Trump says a senior ISIS figure has been killed in an operation he described as one of the most significant blows to the group in recent years.
According to Trump, the raid was carried out alongside Nigerian forces and resulted in the death of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, who has been widely described as ISIS’ second-in-command.
“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,” Trump posted to Truth Social.
In the same messages, Trump suggested the target believed he was out of reach and said US intelligence had been tracking him closely.
“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 added.
Al-Minuki, who was reported to be a Nigerian national, was labeled a “specially designated global terrorist” by the Biden administration in 2023.
At that time, the US State Department described him as an ISIS senior leader based in the Sahel and linked him to the group’s General Directorate of Provinces, an internal structure tied to guidance and funding for ISIS cells in multiple regions.
Trump publicly thanked Nigeria for its cooperation, though his post did not specify exactly where the strike happened or how it was conducted. Nigerian President Bola Tinabu later said the operation occurred at a compound in the Lake Chad basin.
“He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans,” Trump posted.
The announcement adds to growing attention on Washington’s role in West Africa, where militant groups aligned with ISIS and al-Qaeda have expanded their presence across parts of the region.
Earlier this year, the US deployed drones and roughly 200 troops to Nigeria, primarily for training and intelligence support to assist Nigerian forces. Nigerian military officials had previously maintained that US personnel were working in a non-combat capacity.
The news also follows US air strikes carried out in Nigeria’s Sokoto State on Christmas Day last year, which were reported to have targeted ISIS-linked fighters.
At the time, Trump referenced those attacks on Truth Social with the message: “Merry Christmas to all, including the dead terrorists”.
Trump has previously criticized Nigeria over what he has described as insufficient protection for Christians facing attacks by Islamist militants in the country’s north-west. Nigerian officials reject claims of religious bias, arguing that security operations are directed at armed groups that have targeted both Christian and Muslim communities.
ISIS’ current overall leader — often referred to as the group’s “caliph” — is Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, who assumed the role in August 2023. As with many senior ISIS figures, little verifiable information is publicly available, with the organization known for secrecy and the use of aliases among leadership.
He is the fourth leader ISIS has had, following founding figure Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi (killed in a US raid in Syria in 2019), then Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quarashi (killed 2022), and then Abu al-Husseini al-Quarashi (killed 2023).