17 May 2026
The long campaign against ISIS has shifted from defeating its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria to trying to stop its surviving networks from rebuilding elsewhere. After losing Mosul and seeing its founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed, the group adapted by relying more on affiliates, especially in Africa, where the Sahel and Nigeria have become key battlegrounds. That is why the reported killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki in northeastern Nigeria matters: it signals closer US-Nigerian cooperation and a push to hit the commanders who keep ISIS-linked insurgencies alive. But the fight also shows that even when ISIS loses territory, the wider security threat can persist through scattered but durable branches.
