By Our Correspondent <\/p>\n
In a bid to rid the country of banditry and insurgency,the troops of the Northeast Operation Hadin Kai ( OPHK), of the Nigerian military in collaboration with the United State of American (US) military have neutralizd ISIS global.second in Command, Abu Bilal Al- Minuki alongside several key lieutenants and fighters in Metele Bormo state.<\/p>\n
The OPHK in a statement issued on Saturday by its Spokesman Lt Col. Uba Sani said “Troops of the Joint Task Force (North East) Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), in coordination with partners, have successfully conducted a precision air-land counter-terrorism operation resulting in the neutralisation of Abu – Bilal Al- Minuki , the Islamic State ‘s (ISIS) global second-in-command and the most senior Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) leader, alongside several of his key lieutenants and fighters.”<\/p>\n
“The operation, conducted in the early hours of Saturday, 16 May 2026, at Metele in Borno State within Sector 3 of the Theatre, followed sustained intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance efforts which confirmed the presence of the high-value target and his cell within a concealed enclave. Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, also known as Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Mainuki, was a prominent figure within ISWAP\u2019s leadership structure, with links to transnational terrorist networks operating across the Lake Chad Basin and the wider Sahel region”, the statement said.<\/p>\n
The OPHK also said “. He had previously been designated by the United States Department of State as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) for his role in facilitating operational coordination and resource mobilisation for terrorist activities.*<\/p>\n
“Acting on credible intelligence, OPHK forces, in synergy with partner support, executed a coordinated air and ground assault on the identified location. The operation involved precision air strikes followed by ground force manoeuvres to isolate the target area, block escape routes, and ensure effective engagement of the terrorist elements. Preliminary battle damage assessment confirms the neutralisation of the high-value target along with several of his associates, while follow-on exploitation operations are ongoing to consolidate gains and disrupt any surviving terrorist elements within the area.* The theater Command added.<\/p>\n
The statement further said “the operation was executed without casualties to own troops or loss of equipment, underscoring the high level of professionalism, coordination, and operational effectiveness of the forces involved. This development represents a significant milestone in ongoing counter-terrorism efforts in the North East, further degrading the leadership and operational capabilities of terrorist groups operating in the region. ”<\/p>\n
The theater Command therefore reassures the public of its continued commitment to sustaining offensive operations aimed at total elimination of terrorist threats, restoring normalcy, and ensuring lasting peace , security and economic stability across the North East region.<\/p>\n
The Military High Command also commends the troops of OPHK for impressive joint battle performance of OPHK and US partners, urging the troops of OPHK to sustain the operational tempo in the security, peace and economic interest of the North East region and Nigeria as a whole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent In a bid to rid the country of banditry and insurgency,the troops of the Northeast Operation Hadin Kai ( OPHK), of the Nigerian military in collaboration with the United State of American (US) military have neutralizd ISIS global.second in Command, Abu Bilal Al- Minuki alongside several key lieutenants and fighters in Metele […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13666"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13669,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13666\/revisions\/13669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}