Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday, May 15, claiming that Abu Bakr al-Mainuki, also known as Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, had been eliminated during a “meticulously planned and very complex mission” in Africa.
The president said Mainuki — who was declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by Washington in 2023 — served as the second-in-command within ISIS’s global movement.
“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 on Truth Social.
According to the BBC, Mainuki was killed along with “several of his lieutenants” during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin, a region of waterways and swampland stretching across Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.
He reportedly held a senior leadership role within Islamic State West Africa Province and helped oversee operations linked to ISIS’s General Directorate of Provinces. Trump claimed the ISIS leader believed he could avoid capture by hiding in Africa.
“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,” Trump wrote.
“He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa or help plan operations targeting Americans.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian military revealed that the operation began shortly after midnight on Saturday following months of intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. It said there were “zero casualties or loss of assets,” describing the mission as evidence of growing cooperation between Nigerian and US forces.
Nigeria has battled extremist organizations for years, including several factions linked to ISIS. Following the collapse of the terrorist group’s so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria in 2017, several ISIS-affiliated groups have expanded significantly across parts of West Africa.
