May 16 (Reuters) - Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the second in command of ISIS globally, has been killed in an operation conducted by U.S. and Nigerian forces in the northeast of the African country, U.S. President Donald Trump and his counterpart in Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said.
Trump announced the strike in a Truth Social post late on Friday in the United States, with Tinubu on Saturday describing it as a "significant example of effective collaboration in the fight against terrorism".
"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. Abu-Bilal 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," Trump said on Truth Social.
In a statement posted on X, Tinubu said early assessments confirmed the elimination of al-Minuki — also known as Abu-Mainok — along with several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin.
Tinubu said Nigerian forces worked closely with the U.S. military in what he called a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State. Trump, who has previously accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants, thanked the Nigerian government for its partnership in the operation.
COUNTER-INSURGENCY INITIATIVE
The Nigerian Army, also on X, said the strike was carried out in Metele in Borno State, where troops carried out a precision air-land operation in close coordination with U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).
Borno has endured an insurgency waged by Boko Haram and its splinter group Islamic State West Africa Province for 17 years that has killed thousands and displaced 2 million people.
The latest operation, carried out under Nigeria's ongoing counter-insurgency initiative, commenced at approximately 12:01 a.m. and concluded around 4 a.m. on Saturday and was executed with no casualties or loss of assets, the army added.
Al-Minuki, a Nigerian national, was designated a "specially designated global terrorist" by the Biden administration in 2023, according to the U.S. Federal Register.
Nigeria denies discriminating against any religion, saying its security forces target armed groups that attack both Christians and Muslims.
The U.S. carried out strikes targeting Islamic State-linked militants in Nigeria in December. Since then, Washington has deployed drones and 200 troops to provide training and intelligence support to the Nigerian military against Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked insurgencies that are spreading across West Africa.
The U.S. forces were operating in a strictly non-combat role, Nigerian military officials said earlier this year.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Tom Hogue, Kirsten Donovan)
