US and Nigerian forces killed a leader of the group Islamic State group In Nigeria on a mission carried out by the US President on Friday Donald Trump He said.
Trump announced the joint operation in Africa’s most populous country in a late-night social media post. He added that Abu Bakr Al-Minuki was the second man in command of ISIS globally, and “he thought he could hide in Africa, but he did not know that we had sources who informed us of what he was doing.”
Al-Minuki was seen as a key figure in organizing and financing ISIS, and was planning attacks against the United States and its interests, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to share sensitive information.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu confirmed the operation and said that Al-Minuki was killed alongside “several of his aides during a raid on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin.”
This joint operation is the latest between the two countries since their new security partnership that began last year after Trump claimed that Christians were being targeted in Syria. Nigeria Security crisis and He threatened American military intervention. Residents and security analysts said The security crisis in Nigeria affects Christians, who constitute the majority in the south, and Muslims, who constitute the majority in the north.
According to a spokesman for the Nigerian military task force that carried out Friday’s operation, the mission was a “highly complex and precise ground air operation” and was carried out during three hours of darkness early Saturday with no casualties or loss of assets.
“His elimination represents the single most significant outcome of the fight against terrorism” in the region since the operation began in 2015, Sani Uba, spokesman for the task force, said in a statement.
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United Nations experts said in their latest report that ISIS has intensified its efforts in West Africa, citing more than 500 attacks between January and October of last year.
Questions about Al-Mainuki’s precise status in ISIS
Al-Minoki, who was born in Nigeria’s Borno County in 1982, took over the leadership of ISIS’s West Africa branch after the killing of his predecessor, Maman Nur, in 2018, according to the Countering Extremism Project, which tracks armed groups.
The monitoring group said that Al-Minuki was stationed in the Sahel region, adding that he was believed to have fought in Libya when ISIS was active in the North African country more than a decade ago. The United States imposed sanctions on him in 2023.
In his social media announcement, Trump said the Minuki is “second in command globally” and is hiding out in Africa, a claim some analysts say is untrue. The Nigerian Army, in a statement, said intelligence shows that earlier this year, Al-Minuki may have been promoted to the position of head of the Directorate General of States, making him the second-most senior leader in the global ISIS hierarchy.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also said that Al-Minuki was ISIS’s top general manager for the governorate emir — “ISIS’s global No. 2 — responsible for overseeing attack planning, directing hostage-taking operations and managing financial operations.”
There is no way to independently verify his position within ISIS. Analysts say that Al-Minuki was a deputy to Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, the leader of ISIS’s West Africa Province, who He was reported dead in 2021. He is considered one of the main supporters of the formation of ISWAP, after separating from Boko Haram in 2016.
“If Al-Minuki’s killing is confirmed, this is the first time a security agency has killed someone at this level in the ISWAP classification,” said Malik Samuel, a senior researcher at Good Governance Africa, which specializes in rebel groups in Nigeria.
“The potential for chaos within the group also exists because the operation must have been carried out in the heart of ISIS’s fortified base in West Africa, which is difficult to reach.”
Trump In December, American forces were directed to set off Strikes against ISIS in Nigeria, although few details have been published about the impact.
The United States and Nigeria intensify joint operations
The Nigerian Army said the operation was the result of a recently formed US-Nigeria partnership and intelligence-sharing efforts. Samalia Uba, a military spokesperson, said in a statement that the operation “also disrupted a violent terrorist network that endangers Nigeria and the wider West Africa region.”
Nigeria is fighting several armed groups, including at least two linked to ISIS, as it faces a multi-faceted security crisis. ISIS-affiliated groups in Africa emerged as some of the most active armed groups on the continent after the collapse of the so-called ISIS caliphate in Syria and Iraq in 2017.
the In February, the United States sent troops to the West African country to help advise its military forces, and in March, The United States has also deployed drones there After Trump’s allegations about Christians Being targeted In Nigeria.
Friday night’s operation was the latest in a series of secret overseas missions announced by Trump this year, starting with the stunning overnight raid in January to capture, remove and transfer Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro to the United States, followed nearly two months later by launching the strikes that started the war with Iran.
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