Trump says ISIS second-in-command killed in Africa

President Donald Trump said Friday evening that a senior Islamic State group commander had been killed in Africa during a joint operation with Nigeria’s armed forces.

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Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the militant group’s second-in-command, was killed, Trump said in an article on Truth Social.

“Tonight, under my direction, the courageous American forces and the armed forces of Nigeria perfectly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission,” Trump said.

The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, has wreaked havoc in Iraq, Syria and other parts of the world where its supporters have carried out terrorist attacks.

Its elusive leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, was killed in 2019.

Abu Hafs al Qurayshi was named leader of the group in August 2023, the US Congressional Research Service said in a report.

In 2023, the US State Department designated al-Minuki as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist”, which imposes sanctions on any property in the United States and restricts transactions.

While Islamic State has suffered military setbacks and the loss of a stronghold in Syria, last year’s annual U.S. threat assessment said it “remains the largest Islamic terrorist organization in the world.”

In 2024, a spokesperson for the group “publicly welcomed the group’s expansion into Africa,” the report said.