OAN Staff Jenna Lee
2:55 PM – Tuesday, May 19, 2026
The Nigerian military announced Tuesday that a historic, high stakes joint operation against Islamic State fighters by Nigeria and the U.S. has killed 175 of the fighters in recent days. Proving the precision of the mission, no U.S. or Nigerian troops were harmed during the attacks, according to the U.S. Africa Command.
The operations, conducted with U.S. Africa Command, came on the heels of the killing of Abu Bakr al-Mainuki, (also identified as Abu Bakr al-Mainuki), the terror group’s global second-in-command. Al-Minuki’s death marks the first successful targeting of a senior jihadist in over a decade of insurgency in Nigeria.
“As of 19 May, assessments indicate that 175 ISIS militants have been eliminated from the battlefield,” Nigeria’s Defense spokesperson Major-General Samaila Uba confirmed in a statement.
The initial precision strikes that killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki on May 16 — which President Donald Trump described as a “flawless execution” — were followed by additional raids over the weekend. According to the statement, those follow-up operations killed Abd al-Wahhab, an ISWAP leader responsible for overseeing attacks and propaganda efforts, along with Abu Musa al-Mangawi and Abu al-Muthanna al-Muhajir, a senior media operative and close associate of al-Minuki.
While the Trump administration originally deployed troops to Nigeria in February in a primarily advisory and training role, these joint operations in recent days signal a bold shift toward active U.S. combat involvement.
According to the conflict monitoring group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, after suffering major setbacks in the Middle East, the Islamic State has shifted much of its focus toward Africa. The continent accounted for a staggering 86% of the group’s global activity during the first three months of 2026.
The operations are part of an ongoing campaign by the administration to “hunt down and destroy” the jihadists threatening Nigeria and the surrounding Lake Chad region.
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