A senior leader of the Islamic State (IS) group has been killed in a joint military operation conducted by the United States and Nigeria, according to officials from both countries.
The militant, identified as Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, was described by US President Donald Trump as the “second in command of ISIS globally” and one of the world’s most active terrorists.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said the operation dealt a major blow to IS networks operating across Africa. The strike targeted al-Minuki’s fortified compound in the Lake Chad Basin region, an area shared by Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon that has long served as a stronghold for extremist groups.
According to the Nigerian military, al-Minuki was killed alongside several of his top lieutenants during the overnight assault in Metele, located in Nigeria’s Borno State. Officials said the mission followed months of intelligence gathering and surveillance and was completed without casualties among security forces.
Washington had previously designated al-Minuki as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2023. Nigerian authorities said he had recently been promoted to oversee IS operations globally, making him one of the highest-ranking figures within the militant organization.
Security officials linked him to multiple extremist operations across West Africa and the Sahel region, including attacks on civilians and minority communities. He was also accused of involvement in the 2018 Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapping, when more than 100 students were abducted from a boarding school in north-eastern Nigeria.
Before aligning with IS, al-Minuki was believed to have served as a senior commander within the militant group Boko Haram. The group pledged allegiance to IS in 2015 as part of efforts to establish an extremist “caliphate” governed under strict Islamic law.
The Nigerian military noted that IS activities have increasingly shifted toward sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, with Nigeria-based factions now carrying out the majority of the group’s global attacks.
President Trump praised Nigeria for its cooperation and said al-Minuki’s death would disrupt extremist funding channels and operational planning. He added that the militant would “no longer terrorize the people of Africa or help plan operations to target Americans.”
The operation comes amid growing military cooperation between Nigeria and the United States as both countries intensify efforts to combat insurgency and terrorism across the region.