By Ayo Kehinde
The United States Government has revealed that a recent joint counterterrorism operation in Nigeria produced the largest cache of enemy electronic intelligence recovered by American forces since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, describing the mission as one of the most significant operational successes in its global campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS).
Washington disclosed that the quantity of electronic devices, communication equipment and intelligence materials recovered from the terrorists’ camps was so enormous that an additional aircraft had to be deployed to transport the haul out of Nigeria for detailed forensic examination by American intelligence agencies.
The disclosure was made by the United States Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, Sebastian Gorka, during an interview with Marissa Streit, Chief Executive Officer of PragerU.
Gorka said the intelligence recovered from the operation could prove even more valuable than the number of terrorists killed, noting that analysts were already examining the devices to unravel ISIS communication channels, financing networks, operational planning and international connections.
According to him, the operation resulted in the elimination of 199 jihadists in a single raid, making it the largest number of enemy combatants neutralised in one counterterrorism operation by the United States since the 9/11 attacks.
“I watched it live from the Situation Room. It was like being in a Tom Clancy movie, except this was real. I watched our operatives kill 199 jihadists in one operation. That is the biggest enemy neutralisation since September 11. More importantly, we recovered an intelligence haul that was three times larger than any enemy electronics seized since 9/11”, Gorka stated.
He explained that specialists were now extracting data from the recovered electronic equipment to gain deeper insight into ISIS operations across Africa and beyond.
“That is priceless because our experts are taking apart all that information to understand how ISIS communicates with itself. We are back in the game of counterterrorism”, he added.
The latest revelation further highlights the expanding security partnership between Nigeria and the United States, which has evolved since late 2025 from largely advisory support to closer intelligence sharing, joint operations, military capacity building and institutional reforms.
The renewed collaboration followed National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu’s visit to Washington in November 2025, where both countries agreed to establish a Nigeria-United States Joint Working Group on Security.
One of the major outcomes of that cooperation was a joint operation in Borno State that eliminated several Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commanders, including the group’s deputy leader, Abu Bakr al-Mainuki.
Providing insight into how the Nigerian operation was authorised, Gorka said President Trump approved the mission immediately after security officials briefed him that the ISIS target had allegedly killed Americans and was planning additional attacks.
According to him, the President questioned why the suspect had merely been placed under surveillance before directing officials to proceed with the operation.
Less than 30 hours later, Gorka said, senior administration officials monitored the strike from the White House Situation Room as the ISIS leader was killed, after which the President approved the declassification of footage from the operation.
Gorka attributed the latest success to what he described as President Donald Trump’s more aggressive counterterrorism doctrine, insisting that the administration had abandoned policies centred on surveillance without decisive action.
“We are not watching and waiting. We are dealing death to bad people”, he declared, adding that American forces had killed more than 1,000 jihadists worldwide during the administration’s first 15 months while securing the release of over 100 American hostages without paying ransom.
The White House official warned that Africa had become an increasingly attractive destination for ISIS following the collapse of its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria, arguing that the continent’s vast ungoverned territories offered extremists opportunities to regroup and rebuild.
“Terrorists need ungoverned space. Africa has a lot of ungoverned space. That is why ISIS is trying to reconstitute a caliphate there”, he noted.
Although he acknowledged that many African conflicts originate from local disputes involving land, ethnicity and access to resources, Gorka maintained that extremist organisations routinely exploit such grievances to spread radical ideologies and expand their influence.
He said the United States was strengthening cooperation with African governments to prevent terrorist groups from gaining further footholds across the continent.
Speaking on relations with African partners, Gorka said Washington’s engagement was now driven by practical security cooperation rather than ideological differences.
“We told our African partners that we are not here to tell you what to believe. But if you have a terrorist threat, that is also a threat to us. Let’s work together”, he said.
Gorka also defended the Trump administration’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation, describing it as the ideological foundation for extremist groups including ISIS, Al Qaeda and Hamas. He further warned that terrorist organisations could exploit migration routes and weak border controls to expand their reach, stressing the need for continued international cooperation against violent extremism.
