US and Nigeria take out key IS leader

Early in the morning of Saturday, 16 May last weekend, a compound in Borno state in the Lake Chad area of northeastern Nigeria was struck by a joint US / Nigerian operation.

Several members of the ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) leadership were killed in the attack. Reportedly including:

• Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki - IS global leadership

• Abd-al Wahhab - ISWAP senior leader responsible for coordinating attacks and distributing propaganda

• Abu Musa al-Mangawi - ISWAP senior member

• Abu al-Muthanna al-Muhajir - ISWAP senior media production team manager

The Nigerian Director of Defence Information also claimed that as many as 175 other terrorist fighters were killed in this and preceding strikes over the previous few days.

The operation was reportedly a joint air and ground operation with Nigerian Special Forces units deployed close to the compound that was targeted, with the main strike being carried out by air assets.

“The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoW)
visual information does not imply
or constitute DoW endorsement.”

The New York Times reports that the helicopter-borne ground assault was carried out by a combined US and Nigerian force, including SEAL Team 6. They report that the US forces were attempting to seize al-Minuki rather than kill him, though during the 3-hour battle, to avoid allowing him to escape, an airstrike was called in to eliminate him.

Nigerian authorities, however, have claimed that there were no foreign boots on the ground for the operation and that US support came in the form of ‘intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and other force enablers’.

What is worth noting is that the Nigerian military high command had already claimed back on 2nd April 2024, that Al-Minuki had been killed in an operation. This serves as a reminder of the challenge in confirming the success of targeted strikes in a conflict such as this.