The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has confirmed the death of one of its senior figures, Abu-Bilal al-Mainuki, following a recent operation by United States Special Forces targeting the group’s enclave near the Lake Chad region in North-East Nigeria.
The confirmation was contained in a lengthy statement released through the extremist group’s media channels, in which the terrorists described members of their media unit killed during the raid as “martyrs.”
The development comes about two weeks after a coordinated U.S. special operations mission reportedly targeted an ISWAP media and command facility located deep within the Lake Chad basin forests.
Security sources had earlier disclosed that the operation involved a precision airborne assault supported by surveillance drones, intelligence assets and attack aircraft targeting high-value Islamic State-linked operatives.
According to the sources, at least three foreign ISIS elements were killed during the strike alongside several women believed to be attached to the insurgent camp.
In the statement, the group appeared to acknowledge the elimination of Abu-Bilal al-Mainuki while attempting to glorify the operation’s casualties.“And ponder, O servants of Allah, what prompted crusader America to cross all these distances all the way to these forests,” the statement read.
The group claimed that U.S. forces spent six months tracking Abu-Bilal al-Mainuki using “all types of drones” before launching what it described as a “massive multi-point airborne landing” involving “large forces and heavy gunfire.”
The terrorists further stated that American forces attempted “to capture a single Muslim man in the jungles of Africa.” In another section of the statement, the group acknowledged that its media headquarters was directly targeted during the operation.
“And what drives America to land its planes and the elite of its forces… to attack a newly established media headquarters in the middle of the forests,” the statement added.
The terrorists claimed that members of the media unit fought until they were killed, stating that they “did not surrender to their enemy and did not compromise their religion.”
The statement also praised the slain operatives as “memorizers of the Book of Allah” and described them as a “unique media elite.”
Although the exact number of militants killed was not officially disclosed by ISWAP, intelligence sources indicated that 175 fighters met their waterloo in the operation which significantly disrupted ISWAP’s media infrastructure and command activities within the Lake Chad axis.
The operation is also seen as part of broader counterterrorism efforts aimed at preventing extremist groups from rebuilding transnational operational and propaganda networks in West Africa. ZagaZola Makama reports
