U.S. and Nigerian forces have escalated their counterterrorism campaign in northeastern Nigeria with a second wave of airstrikes targeting Daesh terrorists in the Lake Chad Basin, following a high-profile joint operation that killed one of the group's senior commanders, U.S. Africa Command said Monday.
The latest strikes, carried out on Sunday, hit what AFRICOM described as confirmed terrorist positions linked to Daesh West Africa Province.
Officials said the targets were identified through prior intelligence and surveillance, and that initial assessments showed no casualties among U.S. or Nigerian personnel. Battle damage evaluations are still in progress, leaving the full impact of the strikes unclear.
The action follows a major coordinated operation conducted days earlier, around May 16, when U.S. and Nigerian forces struck a fortified compound in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State, an area long regarded as the epicenter of jihadist activity in the country.
That raid killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described by U.S. officials as the global second-in-command of Daesh and a key architect of external operations. Intelligence assessments linked him to planning attacks, managing financial networks, overseeing weapons supply chains and coordinating propaganda efforts across multiple regions.
U.S. officials said al-Minuki had become a central figure in linking West African insurgent activity with broader Daesh operations. His death is being viewed inside U.S. military circles as a disruption to both regional command structure and international coordination channels.
President Donald Trump praised the operation, calling al-Minuki one of the most dangerous active terrorist leaders and crediting the strike with weakening Daesh capabilities. AFRICOM officials also emphasized that the operation was the result of months of joint planning with Nigerian forces, involving intelligence fusion and long-range surveillance.
Nigerian authorities, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, described the mission as a precision nighttime strike involving both air and ground coordination. Nigerian military sources said the compound housed multiple senior operatives tied to insurgent logistics and regional planning.
The U.S. Africa Command, or United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), has released limited operational imagery and said the mission reflects an ongoing shift toward intelligence-driven, targeted strikes rather than broad conventional operations.
The strikes are part of a broader conflict landscape in northeastern Nigeria, where security forces have battled insurgent groups for more than a decade and a half. The main adversaries include Boko Haram and its splinter faction, Daesh West Africa Province, both of which operate across porous borders in the Lake Chad region.
Despite repeated military offensives, both groups have sustained their presence through mobility, local recruitment, and fragmented control of rural territory. Their tactics range from ambushes on military convoys to attacks on schools, villages and transportation routes, contributing to persistent instability across Borno State and surrounding areas.
The humanitarian impact has been severe. Tens of thousands have been killed over the years, while millions remain displaced across northeastern Nigeria and neighboring countries. Food insecurity and disrupted farming cycles continue to deepen the crDaesh in rural communities where security remains fragile.
The latest military escalation also comes amid fresh civilian attacks, including the reported abduction of students during a raid on a school in Borno State. The incident has intensified concerns about the vulnerability of educational institutions in conflict zones and the continuing reach of armed groups despite heightened security operations.
U.S. involvement in Nigeria has expanded in recent years through intelligence sharing, training programs and periodic joint strikes. Washington has framed the partnership as part of a broader effort to contain Daesh-linked networks in West Africa and prevent their expansion into coastal states.
The Nigerian government has pushed back against narratives that frame the conflict solely through a religious lens, arguing that violence affects both Muslim and Christian communities and is driven by a mix of ideological, criminal and economic factors.
AFRICOM said assessments of the latest strikes will continue in the coming days, with further operations possible depending on intelligence developments and battlefield conditions.
