U.S. and Nigerian forces killed Abu Bakr al-Mainuki, described by President Donald Trump as the Islamic State group’s second-in-command globally, in a Friday joint operation. Nigeria’s president confirmed the killing during an air-land strike on a compound in
WASHINGTON — U.S. and Nigerian forces killed a leader of the Islamic State group in Nigeria, in an operation President Donald Trump announced late Thursday night on social media, saying the strike was carried out Friday.
Trump said Abu Bakr al-Mainuki, described as the Islamic State group’s “second-in-command” globally, had “thought he could hide in Africa,” but that “little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
Al-Mainuki was viewed as the key figure in the Islamic State group’s organizing and finance, and was plotting attacks against the United States and its interests, an official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share sensitive information.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu confirmed the operation and said al-Mainuki was killed alongside “several of his lieutenants” during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin.
The operation is the latest step in a widening security relationship between the two countries. which began last year after Trump asserted that Christians were being targeted in Nigeria’s security crisis and threatened U.S.. military intervention.. Residents and security analysts have described Nigeria’s crisis as affecting both Christians. who are predominant in the south. and Muslims. who are the majority in the north.
The Nigerian military spokesperson for the task force that carried out the Friday operation said it was a “highly complex precision air-land operation” conducted during three hours of darkness early Saturday, with no casualties and no loss of assets.
Sani Uba, the spokesperson for the task force, said in a statement that “His elimination represents the single most consequential counterterrorism outcome” in the region since the inception of the operation in 2015.
There is no way to verify al-Mainuki’s position within the Islamic State group independently. Analysts said al-Mainuki was the deputy to Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the leader of the Islamic State West African Province reported to have died in 2021.
U.S.. and Nigerian statements about al-Mainuki’s standing also diverged in tone and detail.. Trump said in his announcement that al-Mainuki was “second in command globally. ” a claim that some analysts said is off the mark.. The Nigerian military. meanwhile. said intelligence shows that earlier this year al-Mainuki might have been “elevated to the position of Head of the General Directorate of States. placing him the second most senior leader within the ISIS global hierarchy.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said al-Mainuki was the senior ISIS General Directorate of Provinces Emir — “the number two for ISIS globally” — responsible for overseeing the planning of attacks, directing the hostage-taking, and managing financial operations.
Born in Nigeria’s Borno province in 1982, al-Mainuki took the helm of the Islamic State branch in West Africa after his predecessor, Mamman Nur, was killed in 2018, according to the Counter Extremism Project, which tracks militant groups.
The group said al-Mainuki was based in the Sahel area and that it is believed he fought in Libya when Islamic State was active in the North African nation more than a decade ago. The U.S. sanctioned al-Mainuki in 2023.
“There is no way to verify his position within IS independently,” the story notes, while also reporting analysts’ view that the latest killing could create internal strain.
“If confirmed, the killing of Al-Mainuki is huge because this is the first time a security agency has killed someone this high in the ranking of ISWAP,” said Malik Samuel, a senior researcher at Good Governance Africa who specializes in insurgent groups in Nigeria.
Samuel added that “The potential to cause chaos within the group is also there because the operation must have been carried out in the heart of ISWAP’s fortified base, which is very difficult to access.”
The sequence of announcements and operational details has a consistent shape: Trump publicly announced the strike in a late-night social media post. the operation was carried out on Friday. and Nigerian officials later described it as a precision air-land mission conducted during three hours of darkness early Saturday—positioning the event as a high-level counterterrorism outcome tied to a partnership built around intelligence-sharing.
Trump in December directed U.S. forces to launch strikes against the Islamic State group in Nigeria, though he released little detail then about the impact.
The Nigerian military said the operation resulted from the recently formed U.S.-Nigeria partnership and intelligence-sharing efforts.. Samalia Uba. the military spokesperson. said in a statement that the operation also “disrupted a violent terrorist network that endangered Nigeria and the broader West African region.”
Nigeria has been battling multiple armed groups. including at least two affiliated with Islamic State. as it has grappled with a multifaceted security crisis.. Islamic State affiliates in Africa have emerged as some of the continent’s most active militant groups following the collapse of the so-called Islamic State caliphate in Syria and Iraq in 2017.
The United Nations experts, in their latest report, said Islamic State intensified efforts in West Africa, citing more than 500 attacks between January and October last year.
The story also situates the operation within a broader U.S. shift in engagement. In February, the U.S. sent troops to Nigeria to help advise its military, and in March, the U.S. deployed drones after Trump’s allegations about Christians being targeted in Nigeria.
The Friday night operation marked another episode in a string of covert missions abroad Trump has announced this year. beginning with an overnight raid in January to capture and remove Venezuela’s then-leader Nicolás Maduro and whisk him to the U.S.. followed nearly two months later by strikes that kicked off the war with Iran.
Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria. Associated Press writers Dyepkazah Shibayan in Abuja, Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
Donald Trump Abu Bakr al-Mainuki Islamic State Nigeria Bola Tinubu Lake Chad Basin counterterrorism US-Nigeria security partnership ISISWAP precision air-land operation
Second-in-command? So basically they got the boss’s boss? Good.
Wait this happened in Washington? Like the state? Or is that just the article being weird. Either way Trump loves posting late night like it’s a sport.
I don’t buy the whole “sources kept us informed” thing, sounds like PR. Also how do they know he was organizing and financing if he’s supposedly some ghost nobody knows? It’s always convenient that the headline is the biggest guy.
I’m confused because the title says US-Nigerian strike but then it mentions Washington like they were near our capital?? And if Nigeria confirmed it, why is there anonymous info from an official like… come on. Still, if they really killed several lieutenants then that’s huge. Hopefully this doesn’t just create a replacement guy, because it feels like they always say “second-in-command” and then more come.