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Jacquelyn Martin/AP via CNN Newsource
(CNN) — US and Nigerian forces killed a senior ISIS commander on Friday, President Donald Trump said, in an operation he claimed had “greatly diminished” the militant group’s power.
“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 said in a Truth Social post late Friday ET.
The president named the target as “Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally,” adding: “He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”
According to documents from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, al-Minuki was born in 1982 in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, which borders Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Trump did not specify where the attack happened. He said al-Minuki “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
He also thanked the Nigerian government for its cooperation, and said “with his removal, ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US had for months “hunted this top ISIS leader in Nigeria who was killing Christians, and we killed him — and his entire posse.”
“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,” Hegseth added.
Nigeria’s State House, the office of the President of Nigeria, also confirmed the operation in a statement. Nigerian and US forces “conducted a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State,” it said.
“Early assessments confirm the elimination of the wanted IS senior leader, Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, along with several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin,” it added.
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu thanked Trump in a statement Saturday morning.
“Nigeria appreciates this partnership with the United States in advancing our shared security objectives,” he wrote on social media. “I extend my sincere gratitude to President Trump for his leadership and unwavering support in this effort.”
It is not the first fatal strike Trump has ordered on alleged ISIS militants in Nigeria, whom he has accused of persecuting Christians in the West African country.
In December, Trump said he had directed a “powerful and deadly strike against ISIS” in northwestern Nigeria, who he said had been killing innocent Christians.
A month prior, Trump said he was contemplating military action in response to what he claimed was a “mass slaughter” of Christians by Islamist insurgents.
The Nigerian government at the time rejected claims that it is not doing enough to protect Christians from violence, saying it was bewildered by Trump’s suggestion of a potential military intervention.
Christians and Muslims make up the two main religious groups in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and home to an estimated 237.5 million.
Experts and analysts say the reality on the ground is nuanced, with both groups falling victim to attacks by radical Islamists.
The country has grappled for years with deep-rooted security problems driven by various factors, including religiously motivated attacks.
Observers say other violent conflicts arise from communal and ethnic tensions, as well as disputes between farmers and herders over limited access to land and water resources.
