This Week's Islamic Massacres > 175 IS militants killed in Nigeria-US operation; 67 dead in western Niger

 

175 Islamic State militants killed in Nigeria-US operation

Abd-al Wahhab, a senior leader of the group responsible for coordinating attacks and distributing propaganda, was among those “eliminated from the battlefield,” officials say

Published 20 May, 2026 10:06 | Updated 20 May, 2026 11:42

A joint operation by Nigerian and US forces has killed at least 175 Islamic State militants, including senior commanders, in the northeast of the West African nation, the authorities have said.

I suspect that this operation provoked the ISWAP or Boko Haram kidnapping of four dozen students within a couple of days. They would use them as hostages so as not to be bombed by US and Nigerian drones.

Nigeria’s military said on Tuesday that the strikes were conducted over several days against Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters, destroying weapons, checkpoints, and financial networks across the region. US Africa Command (AFRICOM) confirmed the operation and said no American or Nigerian troops were harmed.

“The removal of these terrorists diminishes the group’s capacity to plan attacks that threaten the safety and security of the U.S. and our partners,” AFRICOM said in a statement.

READ MORE: The illusion of stability: Why foreign airstrikes can’t stop the terror

Nigerian military spokesman Samaila Uba said one of the senior leaders of ISWAP “eliminated from the battlefield” was Abd-al Wahhab, who was responsible for “coordinating attacks and distributing propaganda.” ISWAP senior member Abu Musa al-Mangawi, and Abu al-Muthanna al-Muhajir, who leads the group’s media production team, were also killed, according to Uba.

The latest strikes come days after Abuja and Washington announced that a joint military operation in the Lake Chad Basin killed senior Islamic State commander Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, who US President Donald Trump described as the group’s global second-in-command.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said the operation showed “effective collaboration” between the two countries in the fight against terrorism.

Nigeria’s northeast has been the center of a long-running insurgency by Boko Haram and ISWAP, which have targeted military bases, villages, schools, and transport routes. The country has also seen a surge in mass kidnappings and deadly raids in recent months, despite increased security measures, including a state of emergency declared by the government.

Read more

Does ‘Christian genocide’ capture the reality of this nation’s security map?

Washington increased military cooperation with Abuja after a diplomatic row over Trump’s claims that Christians were being killed in large numbers in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria denied allegations of a “Christian genocide,” saying armed groups target people of all faiths, while Trump said he was considering military options, including airstrikes, to stop the alleged killings.

The Trump administration sent troops to Nigeria in February in what was described as an advisory and training role, though the recent operations indicate a more active role. AFRICOM commander Gen. Dagvin Anderson told a congressional hearing on Tuesday that Nigeria played a pivotal role in developing targets, intelligence, and operational support for the operation.

© RT / RT

Niger: Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims murders 67 people in jihad raid on military engineering unit

May 20, 2026 9:00 am By Robert Spencer10 Comments

Everybody knows in the West, or thinks he knows, that Islam is a religion of peace and all that, and so the question of why a group that calls itself the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims would so regularly engage in mass murder remains unexplained. We don’t see a group called the Group for the Support of Christianity and Christians regularly committing mass murder. Why the difference? Everyone in the West knows, or thinks he knows, that all religions have their “extremists.” Yet we only see stories such as this one involving Muslims, never anyone of any other religion. Now, why is that?

Bon voyage sortie Tillabéri vera Niamey by Barke11, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

At Least 67 Killed as JNIM Fighters Overrun Niger Military Base Near Mali Border

Zagazola, May 17, 2026 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

At least 67 people, including soldiers and civilians, were reportedly killed after suspected jihadist fighters attacked a Nigerien military engineering unit in Garbougna, near the Mali border.

Security and local sources said the attack occurred on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in the Tillabéri region of western Niger, an area frequently targeted by armed extremist groups operating within the Sahel.

According to the sources, the military unit was engaged in the construction of a bridge in the area when heavily armed attackers stormed the base in what has been described as one of the deadliest assaults in recent months.

The attackers reportedly destroyed the entire camp during the operation.

Sources said several civilians working around the project site were among those killed in the assault, while many others sustained injuries or fled into nearby communities….

The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims later claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued hours after the incident….

Tillabéri region, Niger

This Week's Islamic Massacres > 600 sectarian murders in Syria this year; 29 football fans dead in NE Nigeria; 11 more massacred in Borno State

Syria: Islamic jihadis have murdered over 600 Alawites, Druze, Murshidis, Ismailis, and Christians since January 1

Apr 28, 2026 8:00 am By Robert Spencer5 Comments

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is an avowedly Islamic group. It aims to implement Islamic law. And it is brutal and violent toward those whom it considers unbelievers and heretical Muslims.

“Kill them wherever you find them.” — Qur’an 2:191

“Kill them wherever you find them.” — Qur’an 4:89

“Kill them wherever you find them.” — Qur’an 4:91

“Kill the polytheists wherever you find them.” — Qur’an 9:5

“Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are ruthless against the unbelievers and merciful among themselves.” — Qur’an 48:29

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters, Qasioun News Agency, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Hundreds of Syrians killed in sectarian attacks since start of 2026

The Cradle, April 25, 2026:

Since the beginning of the year, nearly 400 Syrians have become victims of sectarian-motivated killings in the governorates of Hama and Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on 24 April, as the country’s minority religious groups continue to be targeted by militants affiliated with the government in Damascus.

Overall, some 614 Syrians suffered violent deaths since the start of 2026, as part of a “widening circle of violence and insecurity in various parts of the country,” SOHR stated.

Of those 614 killings in Hama and Homs, some 387 have resulted from “sectarian affiliation.” Both Hama and Homs governorates have mixed populations of Alawites and Sunnis.

Since ousting the government of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, self-proclaimed President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda commander, has filled the country’s security forces with Sunni extremists from the ranks of his militant group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an offshoot of ISIS.

Sharaa’s security forces and affiliated extremist factions have primarily targeted the Alawite religious minority, whom they blame for supporting Assad and whom they view as apostates deserving to be killed and their property taken, based on the religious ideology of the medieval Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyyah.

Nevertheless, Sharaa’s forces have also targeted Syria’s other minority groups, such as the Druze, Murshidis, Ismailis, and Christians.

“The methods of violence include summary executions and shootings carried out by unknown gunmen targeting former security and military figures, as well as civilians, amid clear indications of revenge and, in some cases, sectarian motives,” SOHR noted.

“These operations are causing panic among the population, as many feel unsafe while moving around the city streets or even within their neighborhoods,” the rights monitor added.

Among the victims this year are 28 women and 14 children.

The SOHR warned that these incidents form a systematic pattern threatening the stability and security of the country, and called on Syrian authorities to strengthen investigation efforts, hold those involved accountable, and protect civilians from the ongoing cycle of violence.

The killings follow a familiar pattern. Unknown gunmen on motorcycles enter Alawite neighborhoods, opening fire on unsuspecting men, women, and children as they sit on their balconies, walk or play in the streets, or work in their shops…

 

 

Gunmen kill at least 29 in northeast Nigeria after targeting young people at football pitch

Africa

Gunmen killed at least 29 people in an hours-long attack in Nigeria's northeastern Adamawa state, local authorities said, burning homes and places of worship and opening fire on people watching a football match. Nigeria continues to struggle with armed attacks by jihadists and armed criminal gangs.

Gunmen have killed at least 29 people in northeastern Nigeria, a state governor said Monday, with locals saying the attackers targeted young people gathered at a football pitch, the latest bout of deadly unrest in Africa's most populous nation.

The attack on Sunday occurred in Adamawa state, which borders Cameroon and is a hotspot for violence by jihadists and local criminal gangs. Communal violence over land is also rife in the state.

The latest attack comes as Nigeria's security crisis is increasingly under scrutiny – both abroad and at home as general elections are less than a year away.

Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri visited the scene of the Sunday attack and "confirmed that no fewer than 29 people were killed in a deadly attack on Guyaku community in Gombi Local Government Area", his spokesman said in a post on social media.

Locals also gave a similar toll.

Watch moreArmed gangs behind killings, kidnappings in Nigeria

Resident Philip Agabus told AFP that the attack occurred when "our people converged at a football pitch in Guyaku community ... [and] were attacked by insurgents who entered with guns and began shooting randomly".

The dead were "youths, including some ladies that were watching football", another local, Joshua Usman, said.

"They also burnt places of worship, houses and motorcycles," added Usman.

The state governor's office wrote that "the attackers operated for several hours, killing dozens of residents, burning places of worship, and destroying property including motorcycles", citing a local community leader, Aggrey Ali.

Local television showed footage of a burned church and several charred motor cycles.

The governor blamed the Boko Haram militants who are active in the northeast of Nigeria.

But a rival group, the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it "killed at least 25 ... Christians", and "torched a church and nearly 100 motorcycles", in a statement reported by the SITE monitoring group.

Fintiri condemned the attack, saying "it will not go unpunished" while he vowed "intensifying security operations immediately to restore peace".

Since 2009, the jihadist insurgency in Nigeria, led primarily by Boko Haram and its rival faction, the ISWAP, has left tens of thousands of people dead and millions displaced in the country's northeast, according to the United Nations.

The jihadist conflict has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Nigeria is now looking to the United States for technical and training support for its troops fighting the jihadists after a resurgence of violence strained relationships between the two countries.

US President Donald Trump said last October that Christianity was facing an "existential threat" in the West African nation. Security experts say that both Muslim and Christian communities are targeted by armed groups.

Read moreTrump threatens Nigeria with military action, escalating claims of Christian persecution

A separate attack occurred Sunday in a another district more 100 kilometres away which a local community blamed on communal clashes over farmland disputes in several villages in Lamurde area.

"Lives were lost, properties were also lost," Bulus Daniel, local government council chairman for Lamurde area told AFP.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Adamawa State, Nigeria

Nigeria: Muslims murder eleven people and burn homes in late night jihad attack on remote village

Apr 26, 2026 11:00 am By Robert Spencer5 Comments

“Make ready for them all that you can of force and of warhorses, so that by them you may strike terror in the enemy of Allah and your enemy…” — Qur’an 8:60

The point of striking terror in the enemies of Allah is to frighten them into vacating their land, so that the domains of Islam expand.

Islamic militants kill 11 people and burn homes in late night attack in Nigeria, local officials say

by Haruna Umar, Independent, April 22, 2026:

Islamic militants attacked a remote village in northeastern Nigeria overnight, killing 11 people and leaving two critically injured, local officials said Wednesday. It was the latest violence in Africa’s most populous country that has long been battling a complex security crisis.

The attack took place late on Tuesday in Pubagu, a community in a remote area on the fringes of Sambisa forest in Borno state, the epicenter of Nigeria’s long fight against an Islamic insurgency. Villagers said they buried the victims on Wednesday and attributed the attack to the extremist Boko Haram group….

Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups active in Nigeria are Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, affiliated with the Islamic State group and is known as Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP. There is also the IS-linked Lakurawa, as well as other “bandit” groups that specialize in kidnapping for ransom and illegal mining.

Borno State