The US and Nigeria have confirmed the elimination of a key Islamic State leader during a joint military operation. Representative Photo: iStock
Who was Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, senior Islamic State leader, killed by US, Nigerian forces?
Born in Nigeria's Borno and designated a global terrorist by the US, the 44-year-old operational mastermind for the militant outfit
The presidents of the US and Nigeria, Donald Trump and Bola Tinubu, respectively, have confirmed the elimination of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, a senior leader of the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in a major joint operation.
Trump confirmed the news first, saying on his Truth Social platform on Friday (May 15) that the US and Nigerian forces eliminated “the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield”.
Hailing the operation as one which was “meticulously planned” and “flawlessly executed”, Trump said Minuki, “the second in command of ISIS globally”, thought he could take refuge in Africa but had no idea that he was being tracked.
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On Saturday (May 16), Tinubu said in a statement that the joint mission “dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State”.
COUNTERTERRORISM OPERATION AGAINST ISIS SENIOR LEADER, ABU-BILAL AL-MANUKI
— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) May 16, 2026
Overnight, Nigeria and the United States recorded a significant example of effective collaboration in the fight against terrorism.
Our determined Nigerian Armed Forces, working closely with the Armed… pic.twitter.com/VhHs6IkxCh
“Early assessments confirm the elimination of the wanted IS senior leader, Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, along with several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin,” he said.
Who was Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki?
Al-Manuki, also reportedly known by names such as Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Manuki, Abor Mainok, and Abubakar Mainok, was born in Nigeria’s Borno state in 1982 and was primarily based in the Sahel region of Africa, a vast area spanning 12 nations, according to the Counter Terrorism Project (CTP). He was declared a “specially designated global terrorist” by the US in 2023, due to his leadership position in the IS.
Before pledging allegiance to the IS in 2015, he was a senior commander of Boko Haram, a jihadist militant group.
The CTP further adds that Al-Mainuki was a leading official in the Lake Chad division of the IS’s General Directorate of Provinces offices.
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Al-Mainuki was said to have occupied a regional commander role within IS since the assassination of Mamman Nur, the leader of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), in 2018. Characterised as a staunch militant, he was a significant adversary of Nur and emerged as a prominent member of ISWAP.
The CTP also cites regional scholars as indicating that Al-Mainuki experienced a contentious relationship with the now deceased Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau. In 2015-2016, when Shekau rejected a request from the IS to dispatch fighters to Libya, al-Mainuki — who held the position of ISWAP’s commander in the Lake Chad region —obliged by sending fighters. This exacerbated their already strained relations.
Key figure in IS ops beyond Nigeria
Nigerian military sources said al-Minuki played a key role in coordinating IS operations beyond Nigeria, encompassing media activities, development of drones and weapons production, BBC reported. He was also a crucial link in international terrorist funding in West Asia and the Sahel.
The exact timeline of al-Mainuki's ascension to the position of senior leader of the IS’s al-Furqan Office, recognised as one of the group's most active and well-established regional networks, however, remains unclear.
The al-Furqan office oversees operations in Nigeria and its neighbouring countries, in addition to the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara affiliate located in the western Sahel.
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Al-Manuki’s elimination marks yet another serious setback for the IS since the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first caliph of the IS, during a US operation in Syria in 2019.
Explaining the significance of Al-Manuki’s death, a piece in Western Post said it disrupts the ISWAP’s command and coordination structure. It said such bodies do not only depend on combatants on the field but on strategic networks, including logistics, recruitment, financing, and propaganda. The death of a senior figure such as Al-Manuki can thus result in confusion and operational hazards in the militant ranks.