The US and Nigerian military last night eliminated Abu-Bilal al-Minuqi, the deputy commander of the ISIS group, United States President Donald Trump said in a message on the Truth Social platform.
“This night, on my orders, the brave American troops and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a carefully planned and extremely complex operation to eliminate the world’s most active terrorist on the battlefield,” Trump wrote.
The American leader also clarified that he was referring to Abu-Bilal al-Minuqi, “the second ranking leader ” of ISIS “in the world.”
“(He-red.) thought he could hide in Africa, but he had no idea that we had sources that kept us informed of his actions. He would no longer terrorise the people of Africa or help plan operations against Americans. With his elimination, ISIL’s global operations have been significantly weakened,” the US president added.
Earlier, Trump said in a post on the Truth Social platform that the United States “may resort to military intervention in Nigeria” if the current government continues to allow attacks on Christians.
Trump said that in response to continued killings, US aid would be immediately suspended and that “other possible measures” were being considered. He does not reject the option of using force pressure: Trump admitted that “the US may open a military operation to eliminate Islamic militants”, which, in his assessment, “commit crimes against believers”.
The White House chief said he had instructed the Defence Department to prepare for potential action and urged the Nigerian leadership to “act without delay”. He also described the possible operation as “fast and hard”, adding that it should be “sweet” in response to violence against Christians.
Christians in Nigeria face persecution. According to the European Parliament, nearly 17,000 Christians have been killed in “targeted attacks” between 2019 and 2023, and in 2025, more than 7,000 died in the first seven months.
The radical group Islamic State partially controlled territory in Iraq and Syria until 2019. Since then, Western countries have continued surveillance and intelligence operations in the region to prevent the resurgence of “ISIS”. According to the UN, the KRG currently has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in its ranks in Iraq and Syria.
In November 2025, Syria, which has been led by transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, became the 90th country participating in the US-led international coalition to fight “ISIS”.
In December 2025, US Secretary of War Pete Hagseth announced the launch of a “revenge operation” in which the US military struck dozens of “ISIL” targets in Syria. On 4 January, Britain and France carried out an airstrike on the group’s weapons compound near Palmyra.