Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made clear Saturday that the killing of ISIS’s global second-in-command in Nigeria was directly tied to the Trump administration’s stated mission of protecting Christians from Islamist violence, framing the operation as the fulfillment of a promise made months earlier and a warning to those who would continue such attacks.
The operation, carried out overnight Friday into Saturday at President Trump’s direction, resulted in the death of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, whom Trump described as the second-in-command of ISIS globally. Trump announced the strike in a Truth Social post late Friday, writing that “brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield,” adding that al-Minuki “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
Hegseth’s response was direct. When Trump announced the news, Hegseth replied: “Yes sir. The killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria — and anywhere — must end immediately. The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
In a follow-up post on X on Saturday morning, Hegseth expanded on the operation and the months of groundwork that preceded it. “Last night U.S. forces, in coordination with the Armed Forces of Nigeria, killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki and other ISIS leaders,” he wrote. “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.”
Hegseth detailed al-Minuki’s role within the ISIS hierarchy, describing him as “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 the removal of al-Minuki 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.”
The Secretary closed his statement with an explicit warning. “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,” Hegseth wrote. “This should serve as a reminder that we will hunt down those who wish to harm Americans or innocent Christians, wherever they are.”
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu confirmed the operation on Saturday, calling it a “significant example of effective collaboration in the fight against terrorism” and saying early assessments confirmed the death of al-Minuki — also known as Abu-Mainok — along with several of his lieutenants. The Nigerian Army said the strike took place in Metele in Borno State in a precision air-land operation that began at approximately 12:01 a.m. and concluded around 4 a.m., with no casualties or loss of assets on the U.S.-Nigerian side.
Al-Minuki, a Nigerian national, had been designated a “specially designated global terrorist” by the Biden administration in 2023, according to the U.S. Federal Register. The State Department identified him as a senior ISIS official based in the Sahel and a member of the organization’s General Directorate of Provinces — the body responsible for providing financial and operational direction to ISIS affiliates globally.
The administration’s focus on the protection of Christians in Nigeria reflects a pattern of violence that has drawn international concern. ISIS’s West Africa branch has actively targeted Christian-majority villages, abducting civilians for ransom and setting churches ablaze in areas home to large Christian communities. While Boko Haram attacks both Christians and Muslims, ISWAP largely views Christians as enemies, and IS Central’s propaganda regularly features claims of attacks on Christians and their places of worship.
Hegseth’s framing of the operation — as both retribution for violence against Christians and a warning to the Nigerian government — placed the strike within the broader foreign policy posture of the Trump administration, which has made the protection of persecuted Christian communities a stated priority. The timeline Hegseth described, with Trump issuing the directive in November 2025 and U.S. forces spending months hunting al-Minuki before Friday’s strike, illustrated the degree to which the operation was a deliberate, long-planned effort rather than a reactive one. With al-Minuki eliminated, Hegseth made clear the administration considers the mission ongoing — and the warning to those who would target Christians very much still in effect.