President Donald Trump has announced that the United States and Nigeria’s joint forces have carried out a military operation that allegedly killed a top ISIS commander.
Trump disclosed this in a post on his Truth Social platform late Friday.
According to him, the operation was conducted at his direction and involved what he called a “meticulously planned and very complex mission.”
The operation, he said, allegedly led to the killing of an ISIS top commander identified as Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, whom he described as the terrorist group’s second-in-command globally.
According to the US president, the operation was executed by “brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria” and successfully eliminated what he described as “the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield.”
Trump alleged that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki had been hiding in Africa while coordinating terrorist activities linked to the Islamic State group.
“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing,” Trump wrote.
He added that the ISIS leader “will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans,” stressing that the operation had significantly weakened the global network of the terrorist organisation.
“With his removal, ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished,” Trump said, while also thanking the Nigerian government for its cooperation in the mission.
“Thank you to the Government of Nigeria for your partnership on this operation. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” the US president added.
As of the time of filing this report, the Federal Government had not issued an official statement confirming details of the latest operation or the reported death of the ISIS commander.
In December, Trump said he had authorised a “powerful and deadly strike against ISIS” in northwestern Nigeria, accusing the terrorist group of targeting and killing innocent Christians in the region.
See Trump’s full statement on Truth Social media below:
