U.S. President Donald Trump announced that American and Nigerian military forces eliminated Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the leader of the "Islamic State" group, during a "carefully planned and very complex mission," UNN reports.
Details
"Tonight, at my direction, brave American troops and the Nigerian Armed Forces flawlessly executed a carefully planned and very complex mission to eliminate the world's most active terrorist. Abu-Bilal al-Minuki," Trump wrote on Truth Social on the night of May 16.
Trump called al-Minuki the second most significant person on a global scale within the ranks of the "Islamic State" and the "most active terrorist in the world."
"He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa or help plan operations targeting Americans. With his removal, ISIS's global operation has been significantly weakened," Trump stated.
Addendum
As CBS News points out, a native of Nigeria, al-Minuki was named by the U.S. State Department in 2023 as the leader of the "Islamic State" in the Sahel region of Africa. At that time, he held a senior position in one of the offices of the Islamic State's General Directorate of Provinces, which, according to the State Department, "provides operational guidance and funding worldwide."
In 2023, he was added to the U.S. Treasury Department's global terrorist list, resulting in severe sanctions.
The "Islamic State" has weakened significantly since the U.S., its regional allies, Iran, and other forces wrested large territories in Iraq and Syria from the group's control starting in 2017. But the group, designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group, and its affiliates have remained present in parts of the Middle East and Africa since then, carrying out insurgent attacks.
The group's West African affiliates are present in Nigeria and the Sahel, specifically in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. According to the International Crisis Group, suspected "Islamic State" attacks have been reported in all four countries in recent months, including an assault on a military base in Nigeria and clashes with other Islamist groups.
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