May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, had been eliminated in an operation conducted by U.S. and Nigerian forces.
"Tonight, at 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. Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He also thanked the Nigerian government for its partnership in the operation.
Nigeria had earlier come under scrutiny from Trump who had said that Christians there were being persecuted, which the African nation's government denies.
The U.S. had struck what it said were Islamist bases in northwestern Nigeria on Christmas Day last year, following Trump's accusations.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
