Nigeria and the United States announced the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as ISIL’s second-in-command. Donald Trump announced the death first without specifying timing or location. Bola Tinubu later said al-Minuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, was killed with several lieutenants during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin. The Nigerian army said the operation was a meticulously planned precision air-land mission conducted between midnight and 4am in Metele, Borno state. Al-Minuki had been under US sanctions since 2023 and previously led Boko Haram before pledging allegiance to ISIL in 2015. The army said his death disrupts ISIS coordination and included oversight of operations across the Sahel and West Africa, including attacks on minority communities and involvement linked to the Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapping.
"The presidents of Nigeria and the United States have announced the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as the second-in-command of ISIL (ISIS). Donald Trump first made the announcement in a social media post on Friday, without disclosing when or where the joint Nigerian-US military operation happened. On Saturday, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said in a statement that al-Minuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, was killed along with several of his lieutenants during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin."
"The Nigerian army described it as a meticulously planned and highly complex precision air-land operation carried out on Saturday between midnight and 4am (23:00 to 03:00 GMT) in Metele, in Borno state in northeast Nigeria. Borno has been the epicentre of a long-running campaign by the Boko Haram armed group and its splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which is linked to ISIL."
"Little is publicly known about al-Minuki, who had been under US sanctions since 2023. Before pledging allegiance to ISIL in 2015, al-Minuki was a prominent Boko Haram leader, according to the Nigerian army. An army statement described him as a key operational and strategic figure who provided guidance to ISIL entities outside Nigeria on media operations, economic warfare and weapons manufacturing."
"His death removes a critical node through which ISIS coordinated and directed operations across different regions of the world, the army said. It added that al-Minuki oversaw ISIL-linked operations across the Sahel and West Africa, including attacks against ethnic and religious minority communities. In 2018, he was linked to the kidnapping of more than 100 schoolgirls in Dapchi, in northeastern Nigeria's Yobe state."
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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