Nigeria says joint US strikes killed 175 Islamic State fighters

ABUJA: Nigeria’s military said on Tuesday that joint airstrikes carried out with the United States in the country’s northeast had killed 175 Islamic State fighters, including Abu Bilal al-Minuki, whom Nigerian and US authorities identified as a senior global figure in the militant group.

The military said the operation targeted Islamic State elements in a remote part of northeastern Nigeria, a region that has faced an extremist insurgency since 2009. The conflict began with Boko Haram and later involved its offshoot and rival, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). According to the United Nations, more than 40,000 people have been killed and two million others displaced in the violence.

Nigerian authorities said Abu Bilal al-Minuki was killed last weekend in a remote village in the northeast during the joint operation by US and Nigerian forces. The Nigerian military described him as the world’s most active terrorist and said he served as director of global operations for Islamic State. According to the Nigerian military and US Africa Command, he provided strategic direction on media and financial operations as well as on the development and manufacturing of weapons, explosives and drones.

In its statement on Tuesday, the Nigerian military said 175 Islamic State militants had so far been eliminated in the recent operations.

The joint strikes have resulted in the destruction of ISIS checkpoints, weapons caches, logistical hubs, military equipment and financial networks used to sustain terrorist operations

The military also said several other important figures had been killed in the past few days. It identified Abdal Wahhab as a senior ISWAP leader responsible for coordinating attacks and distributing propaganda. It said Abu Musa al-Mangawi was a high-ranking ISWAP member, while Abu al-Muthanna al-Muhajir was a senior media production team manager and a close confidant of al-Minuki.

Presidential response

After the announcement of al-Minuki’s death, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu thanked US President Donald Trump for what he called his leadership and unwavering support. Tinubu also said he was looking forward to more decisive strikes against terrorist enclaves across Nigeria.

Wider security situation

Boko Haram and ISWAP have recently intensified attacks on villages, police stations, and workers including loggers and fishermen, as well as military bases. Those attacks have led to the deaths of several civilians and senior army officers.

The rise in violence prompted Tinubu to declare a nationwide state of emergency in 2025, while Trump threatened Nigeria with military intervention. Trump has said Christians in Nigeria were being persecuted and were victims of a genocide carried out by terrorists. The government in Abuja and most experts have rejected that claim, saying the violence affects both Christians and Muslims.

The United States military, working with Nigerian authorities, had previously carried out airstrikes on December 25 last year in Sokoto state in northwestern Nigeria, targeting what Washington described as jihadists.

Northern Nigeria is also dealing with violence by criminal gangs locally known as bandits, who frequently attack villages and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom. Separately, Africom has also been conducting operations against Islamic State and al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia, with airstrikes increasing since the start of the year.