US and Nigeria conduct further strikes against ISIL in Lake Chad Basin
Washington and Abuja coordinate military action in northeastern Nigeria as dozens of US personnel remain in technical support roles under Nigerian command authority.
The United States military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) has carried out additional air strikes against ISIL fighters in northeastern Nigeria, operating in coordination with the Nigerian government. The strikes, described in a Monday statement as “additional kinetic” operations, took place on Sunday. AFRICOM confirmed that no US or Nigerian forces were harmed during the engagements.
The operation follows a joint announcement by US President Donald Trump and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu regarding the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the deputy leader of ISIL. The strike on al-Minuki’s compound in the Lake Chad Basin occurred two days prior, targeting him alongside several lieutenants. Al-Minuki, formerly a prominent Boko Haram leader before pledging allegiance to ISIL in 2015, oversaw key operations for the ISIL affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP) across the Sahel and West African regions.
Dennis Amachree, former director of the US Department of State Services in Nigeria, told Al Jazeera that al-Minuki’s death would create a significant vacuum in the leadership and financing of ISWAP. He noted that many top officers were decimated alongside the deputy leader, potentially disrupting the group’s operational capacity. AFRICOM stated in its release that removing these terrorists diminishes the group’s ability to plan attacks threatening the safety of the US and its partners.
Dozens of US soldiers have been deployed to Nigeria in recent months to provide technical support, intelligence sharing, and engage with armed groups. Samaila Uba, spokesman for Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, clarified that US personnel operate under the full command authority of Nigerian forces and will not play a direct combat role. This deployment follows previous US air strikes on ISIL-affiliated fighters in northwestern Nigeria last Christmas.
President Trump told The New York Times he would prefer the strikes to be one-off but warned of continued action if attacks on Christians persist. The Nigerian government has rejected Trump’s accusation of mass killings of Christians in the country. Analysts have noted that victims of armed groups in the region include people across all faiths, not just Christians.
