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The President of Nigeria and the United States they have announced the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as the second-in-command of ISIL (ISIS).
Donald Trump made the first public announcement on Friday, without revealing when and where the Nigerian-US military engagement took place.
On Saturday, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu said in a statement that al-Minuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, was killed “along with several of his officers” during his strike in the Lake Chad Basin.
The Nigerian military described it as a “well-planned and complex operation” that took place on Saturday between midnight and 4am (23:00 to 03:00 GMT) in Metele, Borno state in northeastern Nigeria.
Borno has been the scene of a long-running campaign by the militant group Boko Haram and its splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which is affiliated with ISIL.
Who was al-Minuki?
Little is known publicly about al-Minuki, who has been under US control since 2023.
Before pledging allegiance to ISIL in 2015, al-Minuki was a known leader of Boko Haram, according to the Nigerian military.
A military statement described him as a “very important” operative and intelligence officer who provided guidance to ISIL’s affiliates outside Nigeria on media operations, economic warfare and weapons production.
“His death removes the complex process by which ISIS consolidated and controlled different parts of the world,” the military said.
He added that al-Minuki oversees operations linked to ISIL in the Sahel and West Africa, including attacks on “ethnic and religious minorities”. In 2018, he joined the the abduction of more than 100 schoolgirls in Dapchi, northeast of Yobe state in Nigeria.
Power output
Al-Minuki is believed to have stepped up to the ISWAP board following the demise of former chief Mamman Nur in 2018.
His ability to operate discreetly and avoid public attention allowed him to remain in control of the operation, while avoiding detection by local and international security forces.
Cheta Nwanze, head of the Lagos-based consultancy group, SBM Intelligence, said al-Minuki was known to have been killed in 2024 after a military operation in Kaduna state.
“The initial announcement did not undermine ISWAP’s strength,” he told Al Jazeera, warning that removing one leader would have little effect.
Nwanze said the group will be able to recover as long as the “ransom economy” growing in Nigeria – which raised $1.66m between July 2024 and June 2025, according to the SBM intelligence report – “remains”.
“The main tool of governance is the man on the ground with a gun, and the man’s main support is a working relationship, which Nigeria sadly does not have,” he said. “Until the economic ideology that feeds these groups is disrupted, the cycle will continue.”
Experts say leaders like al-Minuki have been central to the alliance between local fighters and ISIL networks, but they are not replaceable because of the group’s legal structure.
“The killing of al-Minuki will disrupt ISWAP’s work in the short term,” Alex Vines, director of the Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Al Jazeera.
“ISWAP has confirmed the loss of leadership, saying that this killing will not make the election itself.”
‘Inclusive governance reforms’
ISWAP has added to recent violence on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon, fighting armed groups and humanitarian groups.
These actions are seen as part of a deliberate attempt to integrate the region and show that the group continues to work despite pressure, including after Trump criticized Nigeria for not doing enough to protect Christians in the north of the country from attacks.
The Nigerian government has denied the allegations saying that Muslims are also being persecuted by the armed forces. In recent months, most of the US military has been sent to Nigeria to assist in the fight against armed forces by providing information and technical support.
Tinubu said Nigeria “appreciates” the cooperation with the US “in furthering our security goals,” adding that he expects “serious terrorist attacks across the country”.
Vines said the killing of al-Minuki was a “strategic victory” for the Tinubu regime, but ISWAP remains a “security concern”.
As for the US, the removal of al-Minuki should be framed as a victory against the ISIL network in Africa. It will also reinforce the importance of Nigeria “as a security partner and a reminder that the relationship between the two countries is better than a year ago”, Vines told Al Jazeera.
Nwanze said the deal shows the deepening of the US-Nigeria security partnership, but the partnership “will have limits”.
“Washington’s willingness to act is based on small-scale counter-terrorism targets, not a full commitment to rebuilding Nigeria’s fractured security system,” he added.
Mubarak Aliyu, a political and security risk analyst, called the removal of al-Minuki “a great achievement”. He emphasized, however, that “major administrative reform is needed to solve these problems.” for a long time in the whole region”.
