WASHINGTON, May 16, 2026 —
President Donald Trump announced late Friday that American and Nigerian forces had killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki — the second-in-command of ISIS globally and, in Trump’s words, “the most active terrorist in the world” — in a joint military operation executed overnight.
The announcement came via Truth Social, where Trump posted the news in the early hours of Friday. The White House confirmed the operation shortly after. No details of where or how the strike was carried out have been made public.
What Trump Said — and Who Al-Minuki Was
Trump’s post was unambiguous. “Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield,” he wrote. “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. He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”
Trump added that al-Minuki’s removal meant ISIS’s “global operation is greatly diminished” and thanked the Nigerian government for its cooperation in the mission.
Al-Minuki was born in 1982 in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria — a region bordering Cameroon, Chad, and Niger that has been the operational heartland of ISIS-West Africa, also known as ISWAP, for over a decade. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2023, citing his leading role in coordinating ISWAP’s operations across multiple nations. He had risen to the top of the organization following the execution of rival leader Mamman Nur in 2018, and had since overseen a campaign of attacks stretching across the Lake Chad basin and deeper into the Sahel.
He was also suspected of involvement in planning attacks against U.S. forces and assets in the region.
The Operation Inside a Broader U.S. Push in West Africa
Friday’s strike did not happen in a vacuum. Trump ordered his first military strikes against ISIS targets in Nigeria on Christmas Day last year — a mission that resulted in the killing of multiple ISIS fighters and signaled a sharp escalation in U.S. counterterrorism engagement in West Africa. That operation drew scrutiny at the time, partly because Trump had separately accused Nigeria’s government of persecuting Christians — a charge the Nigerian government denied — even as U.S. forces were coordinating with Nigerian military units on the ground.
The relationship appears to have deepened since. The joint nature of Friday’s operation — described by the White House as requiring meticulous planning and described by Trump as “flawlessly executed” — suggests a level of intelligence sharing and operational coordination that goes beyond a one-off strike.
ISIS has been dramatically reduced from its territorial peak of 2014 to 2017, when it controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria. But it has not disappeared. The group has maintained an active presence across the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, with ISWAP representing one of its most operationally capable remaining affiliates. Al-Minuki’s death removes the man U.S. intelligence had identified as the organization’s second most senior global figure.
| Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki — Key Facts | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Second-in-command, ISIS globally |
| Affiliate | ISIS-West Africa (ISWAP) |
| Born | 1982, Borno State, Nigeria |
| U.S. designation | Specially Designated Global Terrorist (2023) |
| Area of operations | Lake Chad basin, Nigeria, broader Sahel |
| Previous U.S. strikes in Nigeria | Christmas Day 2025 |
| Operation announced | May 15–16, 2026 |
| Partners | U.S. forces and Nigerian Armed Forces |
| Operational details | Not publicly disclosed |
Trump’s Counterterrorism Record and the Politics of the Announcement
The timing of the announcement — released as Trump wrapped up his two-day Beijing summit with Xi Jinping and returned home — carries political weight. The president is managing simultaneous military engagements: the ongoing Iran war, which has produced a fragile ceasefire and spiked energy prices for American consumers, and now an escalating counterterrorism campaign in West Africa that has produced its highest-profile kill.
The White House did not immediately provide further operational details, and the Pentagon had not issued an independent statement as of early Friday morning. What is confirmed: a man the U.S. government had been tracking since at least 2023, identified as the global number two of the world’s most recognized terrorist organization, is dead. The full picture of the operation — how long it was planned, how intelligence was gathered, and what role U.S. special operations forces played on the ground — will emerge in the days ahead.
