Nigerian Military Details How Air-Land Operation By Joint Forces Of US, Nigeria Killed ISIS Leader

By Ayodele Oni

Nigeria’s military hierarchy has reaffirmed that troops of the Joint Task Force (North East) Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), in close coordination with the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), executed a meticulously planned and highly complex precision air-land operation which led to the death of the second in command of ISIS, Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki.

The presidency, through Bayo Onanuga Special Adviser to the president quoted from the Nigerian Army release which detailed account of the joint air-land operation that killed Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, the Islamic State’s global second-in-command, during a coordinated mission with United States forces in Metele, Borno State.

According to a statement from the Headquarters Joint Task Force (North East) Operation HADIN KAI, the operation took place between approximately 0001 hours and 0400 hours on Saturday, May 16, 2026.

Lieutenant Colonel Sani Uba, Media Information Officer for the task force, stated that “Troops of the Joint Task Force (North East) Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), in close coordination with the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), executed a meticulously planned and highly complex precision air-land operation.”

The operation followed “a protracted joint intelligence effort involving legal intercept operations and sustained reconnaissance that achieved full target development and fidelity,” Uba said.

He explained that Al-Minuki and his cell had established “a concealed and fortified enclave at Metele in Borno State within Sector 3 OPHK.”

“US partners in conjunction with OPHK conducted precision air – ground operations on the confirmed location while Special Forces were deployed to provide security and deny escape routes as well as to extract any of the Teams or air platforms in distress,” Uba added.

The operation involved several air platforms in “a synchronised air-land configuration that left the terrorists with no avenue of escape,” according to Uba.

He noted that “the operation was executed following authorisation from the Military High Command.”

Regarding casualties, Uba said: “The operation was executed with zero casualties or loss of assets.

“Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki has been confirmed neutralised alongside several of his lieutenants and multiple combatants,” he stated.

Uba said battle damage assessment is ongoing and “troops are currently conducting aggressive follow-on exploitation operations to decimate identified splinter cells and prevent any attempt at reconstitution.”

According to Uba, Al-Minuki was “a US Specially Designated Global Terrorist,  by the US Department of State on 8 June 2023 under Executive Order 13224” for his role as “a leading official within ISIS’s General Directorate of Provinces, through which he channelled international funding and operational guidance to terror cells across the Sahel and the Lake Chad Islands in Northern Borno.

“His elimination represents the single most consequential counter-terrorism outcome in the North East Theatre since the inception of Operation HADIN KAI,” Uba said.

He added that the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, acknowledged the success of the operation and publicly commended the partnership with the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

“This decisive operation reaffirms OPHK’s position as the foremost counter-terrorism formation in sub-Saharan Africa and sends an unequivocal message that terrorists will find neither sanctuary nor safety within the North East Theatre,” Uba concluded.