Trump says senior IS leader, al-Minuki killed by US and Nigerian forces

US President, Donald Trump has confirmed that U.S. forces just helped take out “the most active terrorist in the world.”

In a late-night Truth Social post, the president announced that American forces and Nigeria’s military carried out a complex mission that killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, whom Trump described as ISIS’s second-in-command globally.

“[He] thought he could hide in Africa,” Trump said, “but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”

According to Trump, al-Minuki was killed in a “meticulously planned and very complex” mission involving Nigerian and American troops.

The US president described the slain terror leader as the “most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield”, adding that his elimination will greatly diminish ISIS globally.

“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. Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS…”

“Thank you to the Government of Nigeria for your partnership on this operation,” Trump wrote.

The joint military operation comes a few days after Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA), met with US Vice-President JD Vance and Marco Rubio, US secretary of state.

According to the presidency, conversations at the meeting had centred on the “importance of sustained cooperation in addressing emerging security challenges confronting West Africa and the broader Sahel region, particularly terrorism, violent extremism, transnational organised crime, and cyber threats”.