ISIS leader killed in Africa as US commander raises force reduction concerns

United States forces have targeted ISIS strongholds across Africa’s 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 retains the capacity to thwart potential terror attacks emanating from the continent, given its shrinking regional footprint.

Gen. Dagvin Anderson, head of U.S. Africa Command, seemed concerned that the answer might be “no” when he testified to Congress last week.

Anderson said that Africa is the epicenter of global terrorism, but warned that a 75% U.S. force reduction over the past decade – coupled with a parallel drawdown of allied troops – has created “an intelligence black hole” on the continent.

“AFRICOM’s lack of expeditionary capabilities and diminished force posture compromise our crisis response,” Anderson testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, noting the command is operating with “minimum necessary resources.”

“Our reduced presence on the continent also allows disruptive actors to drive the agenda, undercutting American interests,” he said. “ISIS leadership is [in] Africa. Al-Qaeda’s economic engine is in Africa. Both of these groups share the will and intent to strike our homeland.”

Asked whether his command is capable of disrupting such threats, Anderson gave a circumspect response. “That is very difficult for us to ascertain in the Sahel right now given our limited posture,” he cautioned.

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)

The implicitly critical remarks came just before President Donald Trump ordered a strike that killed the Islamic State’s second-in-command in Lake Chad Basin. Additional armed actions in northeastern Nigeria followed soon after.

“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,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday night. “He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”

Trump identified the target as Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, a top figure in ISIS who was labeled a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” by the State Department in 2023 during former President Joe Biden’s administration.

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’s 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’s lieutenants were also killed in the firefight.

There were no American or Nigerian military injuries reported as of Monday, a U.S. official told Military Times.

AFRICOM, in a statement, said al-Minuki provided “strategic guidance to the ISIS global network on media and financial operations as well as the development and manufacturing of weapons, explosives, and drones.” It added that he had a “significant history of involvement in planning attacks and directing hostage taking.”

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.

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

Both groups are especially active in the Lake Chad Basin, which spans Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Myriad factors — including violent extremism, poverty, food insecurity, climate change and weak governance — have converged to make the theater the locus of one of the world’s most intractable humanitarian crises.

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.

On Christmas night, American and Nigerian forces carried out joint missile strikes in the Sokoto State. Trump said “ISIS Terrorist Scum” were the targets. Soon after, the Pentagon deployed roughly 200 troops to the West African nation to assist in training the country’s armed forces as they battle an Islamist insurgency.

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’s territorial caliphate in 2017.

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.

“Poverty is the reason that leads to child soldiers,” Mohammed asserted, adding that the Islamic State has infiltrated schools to create conditions in which indoctrinations begin early. “When 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.”

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.

Mohammed argued that the U.S. must bolster efforts to confront the rise of terrorism in Africa, not scale back.

“Without continued pressure, terrorists will always find a way to plot against the United States, the West and American interests around the world,” he said. “It is their ideology that goes against everything civil and everything democratic.”

Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.

近日，美军与尼日利亚政府协调行动，对非洲萨赫勒地区的“伊斯兰国”据点展开打击。但鉴于美军在非洲大陆的影响力日益萎缩，一个更长远的战略问题仍然存在：美军是否仍有能力挫败源自非洲大陆的潜在恐怖袭击？

美国非洲司令部司令达格文·安德森将军上周在国会作证时，似乎担心答案可能是“否”。

安德森表示，非洲是全球恐怖主义的中心，但他警告说，过去十年美国在非洲的兵力减少了 75%，再加上盟军的同步撤军，在非洲大陆造成了“情报黑洞”。

安德森在参议院军事委员会作证时表示：“非洲司令部缺乏远征能力和兵力部署不足，损害了我们的危机应对能力。”他指出，该司令部目前仅依靠“最低限度的必要资源”运作。

他说：“我们在非洲大陆的军事存在减少，也让一些破坏性势力得以左右局势，损害美国的利益。伊斯兰国的领导层在非洲，基地组织的经济引擎也在非洲。这两个组织都有意图袭击我们的本土。”

当被问及他的部队是否有能力应对此类威胁时，安德森谨慎地回答道：“鉴于我们目前在萨赫勒地区的部署有限，我们很难确定这一点。”

2026年2月9日，美国非洲司令部司令达格文·安德森将军（中）在尼日利亚阿布贾会见了尼日利亚陆军上将奥卢费米·奥卢耶德（左）和中将瓦伊迪·沙伊布。（一级军士长肯尼斯·图切里/美国陆军）

就在唐纳德·特朗普总统下令空袭，击毙伊斯兰国在乍得湖盆地的二号人物之前，这些含蓄的批评言论发表了。此后不久，尼日利亚东北部也发生了其他武装冲突。

“在我的指示下，勇敢的美国军队和尼日利亚武装部队完美地执行了一项精心策划且极其复杂的任务，将世界上最活跃的恐怖分子从战场上消灭，”特朗普周五晚在Truth Social上发帖写道。“他将不再恐吓非洲人民，也不再参与策划针对美国人的行动。”

特朗普将目标锁定为阿布·比拉尔·米努基，他是ISIS的高级成员，在前总统乔·拜登执政期间（2023年），被美国国务院列为“特别指定的全球恐怖分子”。

据尼日利亚军方称，此次联合突击行动是美尼两国广泛情报共享和侦察的结果。对位于博尔诺州梅特莱的米努基据点的袭击于午夜过后不久开始，经过三个小时的交火后，美军对该据点进行了空袭。在交火中，多名“伊斯兰国”头目米努基的副手也被击毙。

一位美国官员周一告诉《军事时报》，截至目前，没有美国或尼日利亚军人受伤的报告。

美国非洲司令部在一份声明中表示，米努基为“伊斯兰国”全球网络在媒体和金融运作以及武器、爆炸物和无人机的研发和制造方面提供了“战略指导”。声明还补充说，他“在策划袭击和指挥劫持人质方面有着丰富的经验”。

华盛顿和拉各斯的官员周日宣布，两国在接下来的几天里对梅特莱的ISIS目标进行了进一步打击，导致至少20名武装分子死亡。

伊斯兰国已将萨赫勒地区变成了其一些最致命的附属组织的滋生地，特别是伊斯兰国西非分支（ISIS-WA）及其竞争对手博科圣地。

这两个组织在乍得湖盆地尤为活跃，该盆地横跨喀麦隆、乍得、尼日尔和尼日利亚。包括暴力极端主义、贫困、粮食不安全、气候变化和治理不善在内的诸多因素交织在一起，使该地区成为世界上最棘手的人道主义危机之一的发生地。

击毙米努基的行动是五角大楼为帮助尼日利亚政府击退叛乱分子而持续开展的行动中最具戏剧性的时刻。

圣诞夜，美尼两国军队在索科托州发动联合导弹袭击。特朗普称此次袭击的目标是“伊斯兰国恐怖分子”。不久之后，五角大楼向这个西非国家部署了约200名士兵，协助该国武装部队打击伊斯兰叛乱。

乔治·华盛顿大学极端主义项目高级研究员奥马尔·穆罕默德博士告诉《军事时报》，自 2017 年伊斯兰国领土哈里发政权崩溃以来，非洲已成为恐怖活动的焦点。

他表示，圣战运动在萨赫勒地区迅速扩张，部分原因是招募儿童兵，而贫困使儿童兵更容易受到极端思想的影响。

“贫困是导致童兵的根源，”穆罕默德断言，并补充说，伊斯兰国已经渗透到学校，制造条件让灌输思想从小就开始。“想象一下，当孩子们无法接受正规教育时，他们的老师竟然是伊斯兰国的伊玛目，教他们如何成为恐怖分子，并许诺给他们金钱。这令人非常担忧。”

据联合国统计，暴力冲突已迫使乍得湖盆地超过1827所学校关闭，导致成千上万的儿童失去受教育的机会。如今，撒哈拉以南非洲仍然是世界上教育程度最低的地区之一。

穆罕默德认为，美国必须加大力度应对非洲恐怖主义的抬头，而不是缩减规模。

他说：“如果不持续施压，恐怖分子总会找到办法密谋反对美国、西方以及美国在世界各地的利益。他们的意识形态与一切文明和民主原则背道而驰。”

Tanya Noury 是《军事时报》和《防务新闻》的记者，她的报道主要集中在白宫和五角大楼。