The U.S. military continued the intensification of its campaign against ISIS in Nigeria, carrying out another wave of strikes on Sunday.
The strikes concluded a busy week for AFRICOM in Nigeria, coming off its Saturday operation that killed Abu-Bilal al Minuki, ISIS’s director of global operations and second in command. AFRICOM said assessments are ongoing around its Sunday strikes but that the targets were confirmed ISIS fighters.
“The removal of these terrorists diminishes the group’s capacity to plan attacks that threaten the safety and security of the U.S. and our partners,” it said, adding that the strikes were done in coordination with Nigeria’s government.
Nigerian Armed Forces spokesman Samaila Uba said more than 20 ISIS fighters were killed in the strikes.
AFRICOM released thermal footage of the strike, showing three alleged ISIS fighters being hit with a missile and presumably killed.
The Nigerian Armed Forces provided further context around the strikes in its own statement.
“Following observed convergence and migration of terrorist elements, multiple air strikes were conducted resulting in the elimination of more than 20 ISIS/ISWAP fighters,” Uba said. “The ongoing operations follow the neutralisation of ISIS commander Abu-Bilal al-Minuki and are part of sustained efforts to disrupt terrorist networks, remove them from the battlefield and deny the terrorists any safe haven within Nigeria.”
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria will continue to aggressively defend the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the nation. Terrorists who threaten our citizens, communities and national stability will be located and defeated,” he added.
Analysts noted that the strikes over the weekend marked a public shift from the U.S.’s publicly advertised role in Nigeria, from being limited to intelligence and training to a more direct combat role. An airstrike targeting just a handful of militants suggests the U.S. was given significant freedom of operation in the country.
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The Sunday strikes are less notable than Saturday’s al Minuki killing, which earned a lengthy Truth Social post from President Donald Trump. AFRICOM described al Minuki as the “most active terrorist in the world.”
Nigeria has long been an active front in the global war on terrorism, but the Islamic insurgency has been given newfound attention over the alleged targeting of Christians. The concern led Trump to send troops and deploy more assets to the African country.
