US and Nigeria launch joint operation against Islamic State
On Saturday, the two countries announced that they had killed Abu Bilal al Minuki, an I.S. leader described as the group's second-in-command globally, who had been under U.S. sanctions since 2023, in a joint operation.
Reference image of armed groups in Nigeria.
Nigeria and the United States carried out new strikes against jihadists from the Islamic State (I.S.) group in northeastern Nigeria, the U.S. military said Monday.
On Saturday, the two countries announced they had killed in a joint operation Abu Bilal al Minuki, an I.S. leader described as the group's second-in-command globally, who had been under U.S. sanctions since 2023.
Northern Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, faces violence from jihadist groups and criminal gangs, which frequently carry out attacks on villages and mass kidnappings with extortion fines.
The latest attacks by Nigerian and U.S. forces were carried out Sunday, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement.
Since 2009, the jihadist group led by Boko Haram and later by its rival group, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), has caused tens of thousands of deaths and millions of displaced people in Nigeria.
The upsurge in deadly attacks and kidnappings in recent months drew criticism from President Donald Trump who claimed that Christians in Nigeria were being persecuted.
Kidnappings are not stopping
Elisha Olukayode Ogundiya, chairman of the CAN in Oyo state, told AFP that "46 people, mostly children" aged between 2 and 16 were abducted in the attacks on Friday in that southwestern state.
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