Who was Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, ISIS global number two?
What's the story
Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the global second-in-command of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), was killed in a joint operation by United States and Nigerian forces. The operation was announced by US President Donald Trump on Friday. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that "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."
Terrorist profile
Who was al-Minuki?
Al-Minuki was a Nigerian national who served as a senior commander for the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and headed operations for the Lake Chad division of ISIS's General Directorate of Provinces. The Sahel region, where he was based, is a semi-arid transitional zone in Africa that separates the Sahara Desert from the Sudanian savannas. In June 2023, he was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US State Department under President Joe Biden's administration.
Leadership dynamics
Al-Minuki's role in ISIS
Al-Minuki had been a regional commander in ISIS since the death of ISWAP leader Mamman Nur in 2018. He was a major rival of Nur and was known as a hardline militant. His relationship with Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was also strained. Between March 2015 and early 2016, Shekau refused an ISIS request to send fighters to Libya, which further soured their relationship.
Criticism and operation
Trump thanks Nigerian government for help
Despite his past criticisms of Nigeria for not protecting Christians from Islamist militants, Trump thanked the Nigerian government for its cooperation in this operation. However, he did not disclose how al-Minuki was killed or if airstrikes were involved in the attack. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control had sanctioned him in 2023 due to his links with ISIS, which has a significant presence in West Africa.