ABUJA, Nigeria — In one of the most significant counterterrorism breakthroughs in recent years, a joint military offensive conducted by the Armed Forces of Nigeria and the United States Africa Command (US AFRICOM) has neutralized 175 Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists in the country’s North-East region.
Among the dead is a high-value global ISIS commander, along with several other senior regional leaders.
The Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, unveiled the details during a comprehensive operational briefing on Monday. He disclosed that the coordinated air and ground strikes commenced days prior, marking a heavily intensified, intelligence-driven campaign to permanently dismantle entrenched insurgent networks.
The high-stakes operations targeted a network of heavily fortified terrorist enclaves, tactical checkpoints, concealed weapons caches, critical logistics hubs, and clandestine financial structures that have sustained the long-running insurgency across the North-East.
Decapitation of ISWAP Leadership
The operational update confirmed the elimination of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, an operative described by international intelligence agencies as one of the most significant figures in the global ISIS hierarchy.
According to military authorities, Al-Minuki served as a core architect for the terror group, spearheading international terror financing networks, cross-border recruitment drives, strategic logistics, and high-level attack planning targeting Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad Basin.
The joint strikes also successfully decapitated several other top-tier ISWAP commanders, including:
- Abd-al Wahhab: A prominent field commander responsible for orchestrating localized ambushes and driving the group’s regional propaganda machinery.
- Abu Musa al-Mangawi: A senior operational member embedded deeply within the group’s leadership council.
- Abu al-Muthanna al-Muhajir: A senior media production manager and close confidant of Al-Minuki, who directed the group’s digital recruitment strategy.
Disrupting Global Networks
The Defence Headquarters stated that the elimination of these commanders has severely fractured ISWAP’s operational coordination, cut off vital funding lines, and crippled its external attack networks.
By taking out both the financial mastermind and media strategist, the joint forces have dealt a severe psychological and structural blow to the group’s ability to radicalize and recruit online.
The military high command reaffirmed that the Armed Forces of Nigeria, bolstered by its strategic international partnership with US AFRICOM, will sustain the momentum of these coordinated sweeps. General Uba reiterated the military’s unyielding commitment to hunting down and neutralizing all lingering cells that threaten national sovereignty and regional stability
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