US and Nigeria Announce Killing of ISIS Deputy Commander Previously Declared Dead by Nigerian Military

The United States and Nigeria have announced the killing of senior ISIS commander Abu Bilal al Minuki in a joint military operation. President Donald Trump confirmed the development on Truth Social, stating that American and Nigerian forces “flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield.” President Bola Tinubu also issued a statement describing the operation as a major breakthrough in the fight against terrorism.

“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…” -… pic.twitter.com/KF8MYet9CB

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 16, 2026

However the announcement has sparked immediate confusion because the Nigerian military had already declared the same Abu Bilal al Minuki dead more than two years ago. In April 2024, the Defence Headquarters released a list of terrorist kingpins killed between January and March of that year. At the top of that list was “Abu Bilal Minuki, also known as Abubakar Mainok, Head of IS Al Furqan Province.” The military stated he was killed by troops on February 21, 2024, during an operation in Kaduna State. The then Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, presented this information at a press briefing in Abuja.

The 2026 joint operation, which reportedly took place in the Lake Chad Basin, now presents an impossible timeline. A man officially declared dead by Nigeria’s military two years ago cannot be killed again unless the initial report was false, the target was a different person using the same alias, or the terrorist commander somehow survived the 2024 operation.

Officials in Abuja and Washington have not yet addressed the discrepancy. Defence observers note that terrorist commanders in the region frequently use multiple aliases and that leadership positions may be filled by successors who adopt the same nom de guerre. But no official explanation has been offered for how someone previously confirmed killed could appear on a battlefield again. The question circulating on social media remains: how can the same person be killed twice?

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