Zürcher Nachrichten - Trump, Nigeria claim killing of IS second-in-command

Under US sanctions since 2023, Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was the second-in-command of IS worldwide, according to US President Donald Trump and the two militaries.

The killing comes as IS activity is increasingly concentrated in Africa, hitting a record high of 86 percent in the first quarter of 2026, up from 49 percent in all of 2024, according to global conflict monitor ACLED report released this week.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social announcing the killing, that "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 Nigerian defence forces said al-Minuki was a "senior ISIS leader and one of the world's most active terrorists", using another name for the jihadist group.

As director of global operations for IS, al-Minuki provided strategic guidance on media and financial operations and "the development and manufacturing of weapons, explosives and drones", according to the Nigerian military and US Africa Command (AFRICOM).

"Al-Minuki was the most active terrorist in the world and has a significant history of involvement in planning attacks and directing hostage taking," said AFRICOM.

"Nigerian Armed Forces, working closely with the Armed Forces of the United States, conducted a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State," Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu said, confirming the killing.

Tinubu said in his statement that al-Minuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, was slain along with his lieutenants, "on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin", a restive region straddling Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

The operation was "a meticulously planned and highly complex precision air-land operation" carried out Saturday from just after midnight through 4:00 am (2300 and 0300 GMT), the Nigerian army said.

Nigerian military spokesman Sani Uba said al-Minuki had established a "concealed and fortified enclave" at a remote village in the Borno State in the northeast, the epicentre of a 17-year armed insurgency.

- 'Critical node' -

The Nigerian military sees al-Minuki's death as removing a "critical node through which ISIS coordinated and directed operations across different regions of the world".

Nigeria has long been battling jihadist insurgents, including Boko Haram and regional offshoots of the IS organisation, primarily the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Since late 2025, Nigeria has been under pressure from the United States, which has accused it of not doing enough to combat the Islamist militant threat.

On Christmas Day, the United States, in collaboration with Nigerian authorities, carried out airstrikes in northwestern Sokoto State targeting fighters from the IS in the Sahel group, usually active in neighbouring Niger.

Washington has since deployed hundreds of troops to Nigeria to support and train its forces.

Tinubu thanked Trump for his "leadership and unwavering support in this effort", and that he looked "forward to more decisive strikes against all terrorist enclaves across the nation".

No soldiers or assets were reported lost during the operation.

Al-Minuki oversaw IS-linked operations across the Sahel and west Africa, including attacks against "ethnic and religious minority communities", the Nigerian military said.

Previously a senior member of Boko Haram, which has been waging an Islamist insurgency in the region since 2009, he was linked to the 2018 Dapchi kidnapping of more than 100 schoolgirls in northeastern Nigeria's Yobe state.

Between March 2015 and early 2016, he also facilitated the movement of fighters to Libya to support IS operations in north Africa, according to the army.

Trump said al-Minuki "thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing".

Local media had previously reported al-Minuki had been killed in 2024.

But Vincent Foucher, a specialist on Nigerian conflicts with France's National Centre for Scientific Research, told AFP the latest claim is "more plausible" because the US is "quite precise".

burs-sn/rmb

L.Zimmermann--NZN