Trump says Islamic State group leader was killed in a joint US-Nigerian
mission
[May 16, 2026]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE and OPE ADETAYO
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and Nigerian forces killed a leader of the
Islamic State group in Nigeria in a mission carried out Friday, U.S.
President Donald Trump said.
Trump announced the joint operation in Africa’s most populous country in
a late-night social media post that offered few details. He said Abu
Bakr al-Mainuki was second-in-command of the Islamic State group
globally and “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we
had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
Al-Mainuki was viewed as the key figure in IS organizing and finance,
and had been plotting attacks against the United States and its
interests, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to share sensitive information.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu confirmed the operation and said Al-Mainuki
was killed alongside “several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his
compound in the Lake Chad Basin."
Born in Nigeria's Borno province in 1982, al-Mainuki took the helm of
the IS branch in West Africa after the group’s previous leader in the
region, Mamman Nur, was killed in 2018, according to the Counter
Extremism Project, which tracks militant groups.
Al-Mainuki was based in the Sahel area, the monitoring group said,
adding that it is believed that he fought in Libya when IS was active in
the North African nation more than a decade ago. He was sanctioned by
the U.S. in 2023.
Questions over Al-Mainuki's exact status in IS
Trump, in his social media announcement, said Al-Mainuki was “second in
command globally,” hiding in Africa, a claim that some analysts say is
off the mark. The Nigerian military, in a statement, also said
intelligence shows that earlier this year, Al-Mainuki might have been
“elevated to the position of Head of the General Directorate of States,
placing him the second most senior leader within the ISIS global
hierarchy.”
There is no way to verify his position within IS independently. Analysts
say Al-Mainuki was the deputy to Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the leader of the
Islamic State West African Province who was reported to have died in
2021. He is regarded as one of the central proponents of the formation
of ISWAP, after its split with Boko Haram in 2016.
“If confirmed, the killing of Al-Mainuki is huge because this is the
first time a security agency has killed someone this high in the ranking
of ISWAP,” Malik Samuel, a senior researcher at Good Governance Africa
who specializes in insurgent groups in Nigeria, said.
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One,
Friday, May 15, 2026, as he returns from a trip to Beijing, China.
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“The potential to cause chaos within the group is also there because
the operation must have been carried out in the heart of ISWAP’s
fortified base, which is very difficult to access.”
Trump in December directed U.S. forces to launch strikes against the
Islamic State group in Nigeria, though he released little detail
then about the impact.
US and Nigeria step up joint operations
The Nigerian military said the operation was a result of recently
formed U.S.-Nigeria partnership and intelligence-sharing efforts.
Samalia Uba, the military spokesperson, said in a statement that the
operation has also “disrupted a violent terrorist network that
endangered Nigeria and the broader West African region.”
Nigeria has been battling multiple armed groups, including at least
two affiliated with IS, as it has grappled with a multifaceted
security crisis. IS affiliates in Africa have emerged as some of the
continent's most active militant groups following the collapse of
the so-called IS caliphate in Syria and Iraq in 2017.
The U.S. in February sent troops to the West African nation to help
advise its military, and in March, the U.S. also deployed drones
there after Trump alleged that Christians are being targeted in
Nigeria’s security crisis.
The Friday night operation was the latest instance in a string of
covert missions abroad that Trump has announced this year, starting
with the stunning overnight raid in January to capture and remove
Venezuela's then-leader Nicolás Maduro and whisk him to the U.S.,
followed nearly two months later by the launch of strikes that
kicked off the war with Iran.
___
Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria. Associated Press writers
Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed
to this report.
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