Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Monday reacted to the disclosure by the United States (U.S.) government on the killing of 199 jihadists and the recovery of a massive cache of ISIS arms, ammunition and electronic equipment, saying that it was not a fresh operation but the declassification of a successful joint Nigeria-US counter-terrorism mission carried out in May 2026.
Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major General Samaila Uba, explained that the operation had already been announced by the Nigerian military, adding that the latest details released by the US were previously classified.
“This is not a new operation. We have previously communicated our highly successful joint operations in May. What you are hearing are some declassified information concerning our previous operation being given out now. However, Nigeria-US joint operations and collaboration are very much on course,” General Uba said.
The clarification followed comments by the US Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, who described the mission as one of the most successful counter-terrorism operations undertaken by the U.S., adding that it yielded the largest cache of enemy electronic equipment recovered since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“We needed an extra plane to bring home all the electronic material that we captured in those camps. The haul was three times bigger than any enemy electronics haul since 9-11. That is priceless because now our experts are taking apart all of that information, looking at how ISIS is communicating with each other,” he stated.
He said the intelligence recovered would strengthen efforts to dismantle ISIS networks, stressing that the administration had adopted a more aggressive counter-terrorism strategy. “We are not watching and waiting. We are dealing death to bad people,” he said, adding that extremist groups continued to exploit ungoverned spaces in Africa to regroup.
The highly successful joint counter-terrorism mission was conducted by United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) in Northeastern region consisting of coordinated ground raids and multiple rounds of kinetic airstrikes primarily focused in the Lake Chad Basin and Borno State.
According to reports, the mission began around midnight on May 15, 2026 with an elite ground assault involving roughly two dozen special forces operators, including U.S. SEAL Team Six, targeting compounds on small islands in the Lake Chad Basin. And on May 16, following a three-hour firefight, a precision airstrike was executed targeting senior leadership. This strike neutralized Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, a high-value global terror leader and second-in-command of ISIS in West Africa. Other senior commanders eliminated included Abd-al Wahhab, Abu Musa al-Mangawi, and media manager Abu al-Muthanna al-Muhajir.
Between May 17–18, AFRICOM and Nigerian forces carried out a second and third round of kinetic strikes in Northeastern region which further crippled ISIS/ISWAP operational capacities without any casualty on the part of U.S. or Nigerian forces. And on May 30, a final targeted airstrike in Borno State successfully neutralized an additional 21 ISWAP fighters.
Written with additional report by Vanguard