Trump Says Islamic State Group Leader Was Killed In A Joint U.S.-Nigerian Mission

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and Nigerian forces killed a leader Islamic State group The US President at an event in Nigeria on Friday Donald Trump in question.

Trump announced the joint operation in Africa’s most populous country in his social media post at midnight. He said Abu Bakr al-Mainuki was the Islamic State group’s second-in-command worldwide and “thought he might be hiding in Africa, but little did he know that we had sources to inform us about what he was doing.”

Al-Mainuki was seen as a key figure in organizing and financing ISIS and was planning attacks against the United States and its interests because they were not authorized to share sensitive information, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu confirmed the operation and said Al-Mainuki was killed “along with several of his lieutenants during an attack on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin.”

The joint operation is the latest by both countries since the new security partnership began last year after Trump claimed Christians were being targeted. of Nigeria security crisis and was threatened US military intervention. Area residents and security analysts say: Nigeria’s security crisis affects both the majority Christians in the south and the majority Muslims in the north.

According to a spokesman for the Nigerian military task force that carried out the Friday operation, the mission was “a highly complex, precision air-ground operation” and was carried out in three hours of darkness early Saturday without any casualties or loss of assets.

“His elimination represents the most significant counterterrorism result in the region since the start of the operation in 2015,” task force spokesman Sani Uba said in a statement.

United Nations experts said in their latest report that ISIS has intensified its efforts in West Africa, claiming more than 500 attacks were carried out between January and October last year.

Al-Mainuki, who was born in Nigeria’s Borno state in 1982, became head of ISIS’s branch in West Africa after his predecessor Mamman Nur was killed in 2018, according to the Counter Extremism Project, which tracks militant groups.

Al-Mainuki is based in the Sahel region, the monitoring group said, adding that he is believed to have fought in Libya when ISIS was active in that North African country more than a decade ago. It was subject to US sanctions in 2023.

In his social media announcement, Trump said Al-Mainuki was “second in command globally” hiding in Africa, a claim that some analysts say is untrue. The Nigerian military also said in a statement that intelligence showed that earlier this year Al-Mainuki “may have been elevated to the position of Chief of State, making him the second-most senior leader within the ISIS global hierarchy.”

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also said Al-Mainuki was ISIS’s top Provincial Directorate Emir – “ISIS’s number two worldwide – responsible for overseeing the planning of attacks, directing hostage takings and directing financial operations.”

There is no way to independently verify his position within ISIS. Analysts say al-Mainuki is an aide to Abu Musab al-Barnawi, leader of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province. reported dead He is considered one of the main proponents of the formation of ISWAP following its departure from Boko Haram in 2016.

“If confirmed, the killing of Al-Mainuki is huge because it is the first time a security agency has killed someone so high in the ISWAP rankings,” said Malik Samuel, a senior researcher at Good Governance Africa who specializes in rebel groups in Nigeria.

“There is also the potential to cause chaos within the group because the operation must have taken place in the heart of ISWAP’s fortified base, which is very difficult to reach.”

Embers Ordered US forces to launch in December He launched an offensive against the Islamic State group in Nigeria, but gave little detail at the time about its impact.

The Nigerian military said the operation was a result of the recently established US-Nigeria partnership and intelligence sharing efforts. Military spokeswoman Samalia Uba said in a statement that the operation also “disrupted a violent terrorist network that endangered Nigeria and the West African region.”

As Nigeria grapples with a multifaceted security crisis, it is battling multiple armed groups, at least two of which are linked to ISIS. ISIS-affiliated groups in Africa emerged as some of the continent’s most active militant groups following the collapse of the so-called ISIS caliphate in Syria and Iraq in 2017.

US sent troops to West African country in February to advise his army, and in March, The USA also deployed unmanned aerial vehicles there After Trump’s claims about Christians be targeted in Nigeria.

The Friday night operation was the latest in a series of covert foreign missions Trump has announced this year; It began in January with a stunning night raid to capture and eliminate Venezuela’s then-leader Nicolás Maduro and take him to the United States, followed nearly two months later by the launch of attacks that set off the war with Iran.

Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria. Associated Press writers Dyepkazah Shibayan in Abuja, Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.