The U.S. military killed ISIS’ No. 2 commander in Nigeria in a targeted operation to stop the group’s slaughter of Christians, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told President Donald Trump’s cabinet on Tuesday.
Hegseth said Trump ordered the War Department a year ago to act after hearing direct appeals from Nigerian Christians under attack.
The mission was to ensure “we do everything we can to protect those Christians,” he said.
The strike came on May 16 in northeastern Nigeria.
U.S. Africa Command confirmed that forces killed multiple terrorists, including Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, ISIS’ director of global operations, and other senior leaders. No U.S. troops were harmed.
Hegseth said the operation was the result of months of behind-the-scenes work to build partnerships and position assets. He revealed it was largely unreported.
“And, over the past month, we killed ISIS’ No. 2, who was most responsible for killing Christians and trying to target the U.S. homeland,” he told the cabinet.
AFRICOM Commander Air Force Gen. Dagvin Anderson said the mission shows the value of the U.S.-Nigeria partnership.
“This operation underscores the exceptional value of the U.S.-Nigeria partnership and was made possible through the cooperation and coordination of our forces in recent months,” Anderson said.
“Make no mistake, our two nations will relentlessly pursue and neutralize terrorist threats and are committed to protecting our people and interests,” he added.
Hegseth said high-quality intelligence from the campaign has already helped eliminate hundreds of ISIS fighters responsible for killing Christians in Nigeria. Christians make up roughly half of Nigeria’s population.
He closed by crediting Trump’s direct push for the effort.
“There’s a lot of things we do and a lot of things the president empowers the department to do on behalf of the American people that he deserves great credit for,” Hegseth said.
