US military carries out more strikes against ISIL fighters in Nigeria

Attacks conducted days after US and Nigeria say they killed ISIL leader.

The ⁠United States military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) says it has carried out additional air strikes ‌against ISIL (ISIS) fighters in northeastern Nigeria in ⁠coordination with the Nigerian ⁠government.

The “additional kinetic” strikes happened on Sunday, AFRICOM said in a statement on Monday, adding that no US or ⁠Nigerian forces ⁠were ⁠harmed during the strikes.

“The removal of these terrorists diminishes the group’s capacity to plan attacks that threaten the safety and security of the US and our partners,” the statement said. “AFRICOM remains committed to leveraging specialized US capabilities in support of our partners to defeat shared security threats.”

The US attack in coordination with Nigeria came two days after the presidents of both countries announced the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as the second in command of ISIL. He was targeted “along with several of his lieutenants” in a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump first made the announcement in a social media post on Friday without disclosing when or where the joint Nigerian-US military operation happened.

Before pledging allegiance to ISIL in 2015, al-Minuki was a prominent Boko Haram leader, according to the Nigerian army, which said al-Minuki oversaw key ISIL operations in the Sahel and West African regions for the ISIL affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Dennis Amachree, former director of the US Department of State Services in Nigeria, told Al Jazeera that the killing of al-Minuki “is going to create a huge vacuum in the leadership and financing of ISWAP as many top officers were decimated with him”.

This latest wave of US-Nigeria coordinated attacks comes as dozens of US soldiers have been deployed to Nigeria in recent months to help fight against armed groups, engage in intelligence sharing and provide technical support.

Samaila Uba, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters spokesman, has said US soldiers will not play a direct combat role but will share technical expertise under the full command authority of Nigerian forces.

Last Christmas, US forces launched air strikes on ISIL-affiliated fighters in northwestern Nigeria. Speaking about whether this incident was part of a broader military campaign, Trump told The New York Times: “I’d love to make it a one-time strike. But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”

The Nigerian government has rejected Trump’s accusation of mass killings of Christians in the West African country. Analysts said people across all faiths, not just Christians, are victims of armed groups.