Nigeria denies US ground role in ISIS commander operation
Shafaq News- Abuja/ Washington
Nigeria’s military on Sunday said no American troops participated on the ground in the operation that killed Abu Bilal Al-Minuki, described as ISIS’s global second-in-command, despite US President Donald Trump earlier crediting American forces with the mission.
In televised remarks carried by Nigeria’s state news agency NAN, Maj.-Gen. Michael Onoja, director of Defense Media Operations, clarified that the United States only provided intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and other operational support.
The operation, he added, followed months of intelligence gathering and close coordination, while earlier reports claiming Al-Minuki had been killed in 2024 were based on mistaken identity because the militant used multiple aliases to evade detection.
Trump had announced on May 16 that “American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria” had carried out a “meticulously planned” mission to eliminate Al-Minuki, whom he described as “the most active terrorist in the world.” International media reported that the operation took place around Metele in northeastern Borno State near the Lake Chad Basin, a major stronghold of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
US authorities designated Al-Minuki a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” in 2023, linking him to ISIS logistics, explosives, financing, propaganda, and coordination networks across West Africa and the Sahel.
Nigeria has battled Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgencies since 2009 in a conflict that has killed more than 35,000 people and displaced over two million, according to UN estimates.
Earlier this year, the United States deployed around 100 military personnel to northern Nigeria for intelligence-sharing, training, and technical support as attacks by Boko Haram and ISIS-linked groups intensified. In March, suspected suicide bombings by such groups in Maiduguri killed at least 27 people and wounded more than 140 in one of the deadliest attacks on the city in years.
