Top ISIS Leader Killed in Joint U.S.-Nigeria Raid, Trump Says
By Victor Idajili
U.S. President Donald Trump says Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, identified as ISIS’s second-in-command worldwide, has been killed in a joint operation by American and Nigerian forces in Nigeria.
Trump announced the strike in a social media post early Saturday, calling it a “complex mission” carried out “flawlessly” by U.S. troops working with the Nigerian Armed Forces.
“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,” he wrote.
According to Trump, al-Minuki believed he could avoid detection in Africa but was tracked through intelligence sources.
“He will no longer terrorise the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans,” Trump said, adding that the killing has significantly weakened ISIS’s global operations.
