OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:55 AM – Saturday, May 16, 2026
President Donald Trump announced that U.S. and Nigerian forces carried out a joint operation that killed a global leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He identified Abu-Bilal al-Minuki as ISIS’s second-in-command.
“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,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late on Friday. “Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
He continued, “He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans. With his removal, ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished. Thank you to the Government of Nigeria for your partnership on this operation. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
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Nigeria has been overcome with violence from multiple militant groups, including the Islamic State of West Africa Province and Boko Haram, a self-proclaimed jihadist group whose name roughly translates from the Hausa language to “western education is forbidden,” according to the BBC.
Al-Minuki, a Nigerian national, was designated as a “specially designated global terrorist” by the Biden White House in 2023, according to the Federal Register.
Trump has previously criticized Nigeria for failing to protect its Christian population from violence and terror carried out by Islamic extremists. In November, he threatened to pull aid from the country and go in “’guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
On Christmas day, the president ordered airstrikes on ISIS targets in northwest Nigeria, which killed “multiple ISIS terrorists,” according to U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), though the exact death toll has not been publicly confirmed.
The U.S. Department of State authorized non-emergency government employees and their families to leave Nigeria in early April, warning of “terrorism,” “unrest,” and “crime and kidnapping.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth released his own statement on X early on Saturday.
“Back in November 2025, President Trump declared to the world that we will help protect Christians in Nigeria and instructed the Department of War to prepare for action. So, for months, we hunted this top ISIS leader in Nigeria who was killing Christians, and we killed him—and his entire posse,” Hegseth explained. “In conjunction with Nigeria’s President, and at the direction of President Trump, U.S. Africa Command oversaw a precise operation to remove this terrorist.”
He said that al-Minuki was “responsible for overseeing the planning of attacks, directing hostage-taking and managing financial operations.”
“The removal of him and other ISIS personnel makes Americans safer by further degrading ISIS’s ability to plan and carry out attacks that threaten the U.S. homeland, American citizens, and innocent civilians,” he stated. “Operations like last night’s demonstrate the exceptional lethality, patience and skill of U.S. forces, amplified alongside willing and capable partners, to address shared threats. This should serve as a reminder that we will hunt down those who wish to harm Americans or innocent Christians, wherever they are.”
AFRICOM posted a video of the strike to X on Saturday.
“Last night’s operation targeted a significant presence of ISIS fighters in Northeastern Nigeria eliminating multiple high value individuals including Abu-Bilal al-Minuki,” the command said.
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