{"id":48371,"date":"2026-05-18T23:02:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/05\/18\/isis-leader-killed-in-africa-as-us-commander-raises-force-reduction-concerns\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:37:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:37:55","slug":"isis-leader-killed-in-africa-as-us-commander-raises-force-reduction-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/mideast-africa\/2026\/05\/18\/isis-leader-killed-in-africa-as-us-commander-raises-force-reduction-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"ISIS leader killed in Africa as US commander raises force reduction concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

United States forces have targeted ISIS strongholds across Africa\u2019s Sahel in recent days, in operations coordinated with the Nigerian government. But a longer-term strategic question remains as to whether the U.S. military<\/a> retains the capacity to thwart potential terror attacks emanating from the continent, given its shrinking regional footprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen. Dagvin Anderson, head of U.S. Africa Command, seemed concerned that the answer might be \u201cno\u201d when he testified to Congress last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anderson said that Africa is the epicenter of global terrorism, but warned that a 75% U.S. force reduction over the past decade \u2013 coupled with a parallel drawdown of allied troops<\/a> \u2013 has created \u201can intelligence black hole\u201d on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAFRICOM\u2019s lack of expeditionary capabilities and diminished force posture compromise our crisis response,\u201d Anderson testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, noting the command is operating with \u201cminimum necessary resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur reduced presence on the continent also allows disruptive actors to drive the agenda, undercutting American interests,\u201d he said. \u201cISIS leadership is [in] Africa. Al-Qaeda\u2019s economic engine is in Africa. Both of these groups share the will and intent to strike our homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked whether his command is capable of disrupting such threats, Anderson gave a circumspect response. \u201cThat is very difficult for us to ascertain in the Sahel right now given our limited posture,\u201d he cautioned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
AFRICOM commander Gen. Dagvin Anderson (C) meets with Nigeria Army Gen. Olufemi Oluyede (L) and Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu in Abuja, Nigeria, Feb. 9, 2026. (Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Tucceri\/U.S. Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The implicitly critical remarks came just before President Donald Trump ordered a strike that killed the Islamic State\u2019s second-in-command<\/a> in Lake Chad Basin. Additional armed actions in northeastern Nigeria followed soon after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield,\u201d Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday night. \u201cHe will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump identified the target as Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, a top figure in ISIS who was labeled a \u201cSpecially Designated Global Terrorist\u201d by the State Department in 2023 during former President Joe Biden\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The joint commando raid was the result of extensive intelligence sharing and reconnaissance between the U.S. and Nigeria, according to the Nigerian Army. The assault on al-Minuki\u2019s fortified enclave in Metele, Borno State, commenced shortly after midnight and culminated in airstrikes on the site following a three-hour clash. Several of the ISIS leader\u2019s lieutenants were also killed in the firefight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were no American or Nigerian military injuries reported as of Monday, a U.S. official told Military Times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFRICOM, in a statement, said al-Minuki provided \u201cstrategic guidance to the ISIS global network on media and financial operations as well as the development and manufacturing of weapons, explosives, and drones.\u201d It added that he had a \u201csignificant history of involvement in planning attacks and directing hostage taking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials in Washington and Lagos announced on Sunday that the two countries conducted further strikes against ISIS in Metele in the ensuing days, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 militants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Islamic State has transformed the Sahel into a breeding ground for some of its most lethal affiliates,<\/i> notably ISIS-West Africa, also known as ISIS-WA, and its rival, Boko Haram. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both groups are especially active in the Lake Chad Basin, which spans Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Myriad factors \u2014 including violent extremism, poverty, food insecurity, climate change and weak governance \u2014 have converged to make the theater the locus of one of the world\u2019s most intractable humanitarian crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The operation that killed al-Minuki was the most dramatic moment so far in the ongoing effort by the Pentagon to aid the Nigerian government in its quest to beat back insurgents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Christmas night, American and Nigerian forces carried out joint missile strikes in the Sokoto State. Trump said \u201cISIS Terrorist Scum\u201d were the targets. Soon after, the Pentagon deployed roughly 200 troops<\/a> to the West African nation to assist in training the country\u2019s armed forces as they battle an Islamist insurgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Omar Mohammed, a senior research fellow within the program on extremism at George Washington University, told Military Times that Africa has emerged as a focal point of terrorist activity since the collapse of the Islamic State\u2019s territorial caliphate in 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said jihadist movements have expanded rapidly across the Sahel, in part through the recruitment of child soldiers who become more susceptible to radical recruitment amid destitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPoverty is the reason that leads to child soldiers,\u201d Mohammed asserted, adding that the Islamic State has infiltrated schools to create conditions in which indoctrinations begin early. \u201cWhen there is no access to regular schools, imagine: Their teacher is an imam with the Islamic State teaching them how to be terrorists, promising them money. It makes it very concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the United Nations, violence has forced more than 1,827 schools across the Lake Chad Basin to close, depriving thousands of children access to education. Today, Sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the least educated regions on earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohammed argued that the U.S. must bolster efforts to confront the rise of terrorism in Africa, not scale back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout continued pressure, terrorists will always find a way to plot against the United States, the West and American interests around the world,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is their ideology that goes against everything civil and everything democratic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite recent operations, U.S. force reduction moves have ignited concerns over America’s ability to stifle terror plots emanating from the continent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":47,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,11,47,36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3488],"class_list":["post-48371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-mideast-africa","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QDRISSQUSFFFNCSLLQPWQGU5IE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/05\/18\/isis-leader-killed-in-africa-as-us-commander-raises-force-reduction-concerns\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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