Nigeria’s military on Sunday denied that any foreign soldiers took part in the operation that killed Abu Bilal al-Minuki, a senior ISIS commander in Africa, saying foreign involvement was limited to intelligence and surveillance support.
Major General Michael Onyema, director of military public relations, said no foreign troops were deployed on the ground during the operation that resulted in al-Minuki’s death.
His remarks came during a television interview discussing recent developments surrounding a joint counterterrorism effort involving Nigerian and U.S. support that led to the killing of al-Minuki, described as a prominent ISIS leader in Africa, according to Nigeria’s Daily Trust newspaper.
“The operation involved no foreign troops on the ground,” Onyema said. “What we received was support in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and other force-enabling capabilities.”
He described the mission as a carefully planned precision strike targeting a high-value militant figure.
According to Onyema, the operation was based on detailed intelligence and close operational coordination.
He also addressed earlier reports that claimed al-Minuki had been killed in 2024, saying those reports stemmed from mistaken identity.
“The individual neutralised this time was the real Abu Bilal al-Minuki,” Onyema said, adding that the ISIS commander had operated under several aliases, helping him evade detection for years.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that a joint U.S.-Nigerian military operation had killed what he described as the deputy leader of ISIS in Africa.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the operation targeted Abu Bilal al-Minuki, calling him “the most active terrorist in the world.”
“He will no longer terrorise the people of Africa or help plan attacks against Americans,” Trump wrote.
Trump added that the operation had significantly weakened ISIS’s global operational capabilities but provided no further details about the timing, location or whether there were additional casualties.
The operation marks one of the most high-profile counterterrorism successes announced by Nigeria and the United States in recent years amid ongoing insurgencies in northeastern Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region.