Joint US Nigeria Operation Kills ISIS West Africa Province Second In Command
Source: X | @USAfricaCommand
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Joint US and Nigerian forces killed Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, identified by President Trump as the global second-in-command of the Islamic State, in a precision air-land operation against his compound in the Lake Chad Basin overnight on May 15 to May 16. Several Al-Manuki lieutenants were also killed. The Nigerian military task force spokesperson described the operation as a three-hour precision air-land action executed during darkness with no casualties or losses among partner forces. A senior Nigerian insurgent groups researcher characterized this as the first time a security agency has killed an Islamic State West Africa Province figure of this rank.
ANALYSIS
Al-Manuki was the senior ISWAP commander operating in the Lake Chad Basin and is described by the administration as the global second-in-command of the Islamic State as a whole. The latter framing is significant: it places Al-Manuki at the global ISIS leadership tier rather than at the regional ISWAP affiliate tier and implies US intelligence assessment that ISWAP has become the operational center of the broader ISIS network.
The three-hour overnight air-land mission with no partner force casualties is consistent with US AFRICOM Joint Special Operations Command planning and execution support to a Nigerian-led operation. Specific US units involved have not been publicly disclosed. AFRICOM aerial intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets in the region have been operating in support of Nigerian operations since the 2024 expansion of US-Nigerian counterterrorism cooperation.
ISWAP has expanded operational tempo across the Lake Chad Basin and into Sahel theaters where French and Wagner withdrawals created vacuums during 2025 and 2026. The May 6 IS At-Tamkin Bengal naval claim at Macomia tracked earlier this month demonstrated the network's continued multi-platform encrypted media expansion. Removing Al-Manuki takes a senior commander out of that network but is unlikely to materially disrupt ISWAP operational tempo in the short term.
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