Trump says Islamic State group leader was killed in a joint US-Nigerian mission

Trump announced the joint operation in Africa’s most populous country in a late-night social media post that was relatively light on details.

He said Abu Bakr al-Mainuki was the Islamic State group’s second-in-command worldwide and “thought he could hide in Africa, but he didn’t know we had sources keeping us informed of what he was doing.”

Al-Mainuki was seen as a key figure in IS’s organization and finances, plotting attacks on the US and its interests, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share sensitive information.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu confirmed the operation, saying that Al-Mainuki was killed along with “a number of his lieutenants during an attack on his compound in the Lake Chad basin”.

Born in 1982 in Nigeria’s Borno province, Al-Mainuki took over the helm of IS’s West Africa branch after the group’s previous leader in the region, Mamman Nur, was killed in 2018, according to the Counter Extremism Project, which tracks militant groups.

Al-Mainuki was based in the Sahel region, the monitoring group said, adding that he is believed to have fought in Libya when IS was active in the North African country more than a decade ago.

He was sanctioned by the US in 2023.

Trump ordered U.S. forces to launch strikes against the Islamic State group in Nigeria in December, though he released few details about the impact at the time.

Nigeria has had to contend with multiple armed groups, including at least two linked to IS, as the country faces a multi-faceted security crisis.

IS affiliates in Africa have emerged as some of the most active militant groups on the continent following the collapse of the IS caliphate in Syria and Iraq in 2017.

The US sent troops to the West African country in February to help advise the military and in March the US also deployed drones there after Trump claimed that Christians are being targeted in Nigeria’s security crisis.