IS leader killed in joint US-Nigerian mission, Trump says
US President Donald Trump announced that a joint US-Nigerian mission killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Mainuki in Nigeria on May 15. Al-Mainuki, seen as a key figure in IS global operations and finance, was reportedly planning attacks against US interests. The operation highlights ongoing US military involvement in Nigeria amid a complex security crisis involving multiple armed groups.
- ▪Abu Bakr al-Mainuki was the second in command of the Islamic State group globally, according to President Trump.
- ▪Mainuki was born in Borno province, Nigeria, in 1982 and led the IS branch in West Africa after 2018.
- ▪He was sanctioned by the United States in 2023 and believed to have fought in Libya when IS was active there.
- ▪The US began sending troops and drones to Nigeria in early 2024 to support counterterrorism efforts.
- ▪IS affiliates in Africa have grown more active since the collapse of the group's caliphate in Syria and Iraq in 2017.
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Nigerian Army soldiers and a US army soldier holding a baton at a military compound in Jaji, Nigeria, February 14, 2018. US ARMY / VIA REUTERS United States President Donald Trump said US and Nigerian forces killed a leader of the Islamic State group (IS) in Nigeria in a mission carried out on Friday, May 15. Trump announced the joint operation in Africa's most populous country in a late-night social media post that offered few details. He said Abu Bakr al-Mainuki was second in command of IS globally and "thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing." Mainuki was viewed as the key figure in IS organizing and finance, and had been plotting attacks against the United States and its interests, according to an official who…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Le Monde (EN).
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