American and Nigerian forces coordinated to eliminate leaders of the Islamic State terror group, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on May 16.
Hegseth’s Saturday X post confirmed, “Last night U.S. forces, in coordination with the Armed Forces of Nigeria, killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki and other ISIS leaders.” Donald Trump previously targeted Islamic terrorists in Nigeria on Christmas Day, citing genocide against Christians in the country as his reason, but this marks the first major U.S. strike against Nigerian jihadis since then.
Hegseth continued, “Back in November 2025, President Trump declared to the world that we will help protect Christians in Nigeria and instructed the Department of War to prepare for action. So, for months, we hunted this top ISIS leader in Nigeria who was killing Christians, and we killed him—and his entire posse. In conjunction with Nigeria’s President, and at the direction of President Trump, U.S. Africa Command oversaw a precise operation to remove this terrorist.”
As of January 2023, over 60,000 Nigerian Christians had lost their lives to terrorism in a decade of violence, and 7,000 Nigerian Christians perished in just the first 220 days of 2025. Nigeria is the deadliest country in the world for Christians.
Hegseth provided more details on the targeted terrorist. “Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was the senior ISIS General Directorate of Provinces Emir — the number two for ISIS globally — responsible for overseeing the planning of attacks, directing hostage-taking and managing financial operations,” he said. His post continued:
The removal of him and other ISIS personnel makes Americans safer by further degrading ISIS’s ability to plan and carry out attacks that threaten the U.S. homeland, American citizens, and innocent civilians.
Operations like last night’s demonstrate the exceptional lethality, patience and skill of U.S. forces, amplified alongside willing and capable partners, to address shared threats. This should serve as a reminder that we will hunt down those who wish to harm Americans or innocent Christians, wherever they are.
Related: Christian Persecution: Massacres in Congo and Nigeria, Kidnappings in Pakistan
Hopefully, the Trump administration will also stand up to the genocidal Chinese Communists and finally condemn the terrorist leader of Syria for the persecution of Christians. Jihadis in Iran, the DRC, Pakistan, and Gaza all persecute Christians too. Instead of sending $10 billion to jihad-loving Gazans, why not occasionally send some foreign aid to persecuted Christians who badly need weapons and support?
Violent antisemitism and anti-Christianity are two of the most severe ideologically driven scourges in the world today. And with numerous Islamic terror attacks this year in America, we know that the nightmare the Nigerians and others suffer is much closer to home than many Americans wanted to admit. This is not a far-away foreign crisis with no implications for the U.S. — this is our fight now, whether we like it or not. That is why it is so important for the Trump administration to continue standing against anti-Jewish and anti-Christian hatred while taking decisive action to eliminate terrorists.
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