The Islamic State West Africa Province has confirmed the death of one of its top commanders, Abu Bilal al-Mainuki, following a recent joint counterterrorism operation carried out by Nigerian and United States special forces around the Lake Chad region in the North-East.
On May 16, United States President Donald Trump and President Bola Tinubu confirmed the killing of ISIS kingpin Al-Mainuki during a joint counterterrorism operation conducted by Nigerian and US forces.
Trump described the slain militant as one of the most active terrorists in the world and claimed he was the second-in-command of ISIS globally, adding that the terrorist leader believed he could evade capture in Africa.
Reacting to Al-Mainuki’s death days after he was killed, ISWAP, in a lengthy statement circulated through its media channels and sighted by our correspondent on Thursday, confirmed his death and that of others killed during the operation, describing them as “martyrs.”
The terrorist group accused the United States of deploying extensive military resources to track him for six months using drones and what it described as a “massive multi-point airborne landing.”
The statement read, “And ponder, O servants of Allah, what prompted crusader America to cross all these distances all the way to these forests.
“They used all types of drones and carried out a massive multi-point landing with heavy gunfire, attempting to capture a single Muslim man in the jungles of Africa.”
It further claimed that the operation involved “large forces and heavy gunfire” aimed at capturing “a single Muslim man in the jungles of Africa.”
ISWAP also admitted that one of its media headquarters was directly targeted during the raid.
“And what drives America to land its planes and the elite of its forces… to attack a newly established media headquarters in the middle of the forests,” the statement added.
The insurgent group praised members of its media unit killed during the operation, claiming they fought until death without surrendering.
“They neither surrendered to their enemy nor compromised their religion,” the statement read.
The group further described the slain operatives as “memorisers of the Book of Allah” and a “unique media elite.”
In another part of the statement, the terrorists attempted to glorify the activities of the media team killed during the raid.
“How many nights they stayed awake and how many days they fasted, working under difficult conditions,” the statement added.
