US military carries out more strikes against ISIL fighters in Nigeria

The U.S. military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) said Monday it had carried out additional airstrikes against ISIL (ISIS) fighters in northeastern Nigeria in coordination with the Nigerian government.

The strikes occurred Sunday, AFRICOM said in a statement, adding that no U.S. or Nigerian forces were harmed.

“The removal of these terrorists diminishes the group’s capacity to plan attacks that threaten the safety and security of the US and our partners,” the statement said. “AFRICOM remains committed to leveraging specialized U.S. capabilities in support of our partners to defeat shared security threats.”

The U.S. attack came two days after the presidents of both countries announced the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as the second-in-command of ISIL. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said Saturday that al-Minuki was targeted “along with several of his lieutenants” in a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin.

U.S. President Donald Trump first announced the killing in a social media post Friday without disclosing when or where the joint Nigerian-U.S. military operation took place.

Before pledging allegiance to ISIL in 2015, al-Minuki was a prominent Boko Haram leader, according to the Nigerian army, which said he oversaw key ISIL operations in the Sahel and West Africa for the ISIL affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Dennis Amachree, former director of the U.S. Department of State Services in Nigeria, told Al Jazeera that the killing of al-Minuki “is going to create a huge vacuum in the leadership and financing of ISWAP as many top officers were decimated with him.”

This latest wave of U.S.-Nigeria coordinated attacks comes as dozens of U.S. soldiers have been deployed to Nigeria in recent months to help fight armed groups, engage in intelligence sharing and provide technical support.

Samaila Uba, Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters spokesman, said U.S. soldiers will not play a direct combat role but will share technical expertise under the full command authority of Nigerian forces.

Last Christmas, U.S. forces launched airstrikes on ISIL-affiliated fighters in northwestern Nigeria. Speaking about whether that incident was part of a broader military campaign, Trump told The New York Times: “I’d love to make it a one-time strike. But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”

The Nigerian government has rejected Trump’s accusation of mass killings of Christians in the West African country. Analysts said people across all faiths, not just Christians, are victims of armed groups.