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Trump says US and Nigeria eliminated ISIS global number two Abu Bilal al Minuki in complex mission
International
Published on 16 May 2026
Sources say ISIS second in command never really hid
US President Donald Trump announced that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, ISIS’s global second-in-command, was eliminated in an operation involving American and Nigerian forces. Trump said the mission was meticulously planned and complex, and claimed US sources tracked what al-Minuki was doing while he tried to hide in Africa. He added that the killing greatly diminishes ISIS’s global operations and thanked Nigeria for its partnership. The news comes amid earlier US-Nigeria tensions over alleged persecution of Christians and US airstrikes in northwestern Nigeria.
- Trump said Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, ISIS global second-in-command, was eliminated
- He credited a joint operation by US and Nigerian forces for the removal
- Trump described the mission as meticulously planned and very complex
- He claimed US sources provided insight into al-Minuki’s actions in Africa
- Trump said ISIS’s global operations were greatly diminished
- He thanked Nigeria’s government and referenced prior US scrutiny of Nigeria
Read the full story at The Economic Times
This summarization was done by Beige for a story published on 
The Economic Times