Trump says U.S. and Nigerian forces killed ISIS leader Abu-Bilal al-Minuki

President Donald Trump announced late Friday that U.S. and Nigerian forces carried out an operation that killed a global Islamic State leader he identified as Abu-Bilal al-Minuki.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that “brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission” at his direction and described al-Minuki as “second in command of ISIS globally.” He added that the militant “thought he could hide in Africa,” but said U.S. sources had tracked him.

Trump thanked the Nigerian government for its cooperation and said, “With his removal, ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished.” Additional details about the operation were not immediately available, and Fox News Digital said it had reached out to the White House for comment.

The announcement follows U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, saying it carried out multiple strikes against more than 30 Islamic State targets in Syria in February as part of a campaign to “sustain relentless military pressure on remnants from the terrorist network.” CENTCOM said U.S. forces used fixed-wing, rotary-wing and unmanned aircraft to strike infrastructure and weapons-storage targets.

CENTCOM also said more than 50 Islamic State fighters had been killed or captured and more than 100 infrastructure targets struck during two months of targeted operations in Syria. The U.S. launched Operation Hawkeye Strike after an ISIS ambush that killed two U.S. service members and an American interpreter Dec. 13, 2025, in Palmyra, Syria, a move the military described as part of continued pressure on the group.

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