Editor
A Hollywood-style raid just rewrote the counter-terrorism playbook.
The U.S. says its joint operation in Nigeria was bigger than a movie script: 199 jihadists eliminated in one strike, and an electronics haul so massive it required a second plane to airlift it out of the country.
It is now being called the largest enemy equipment seizure since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
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U.S. Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, confirmed the details in an interview with PragerU CEO Marissa Streit.
According to Gorka, the mission was watched live from the White House Situation Room and “was like being in a Tom Clancy movie, but it’s real.”
The numbers are stark: 199 jihadists killed — the largest single-operation enemy KIA count since 9/11, Gorka said.
U.S. forces recovered three times more enemy electronic material than any haul since 2001, forcing the deployment of an extra aircraft to evacuate it.
Live intelligence goldmine
American analysts are now dissecting the seized devices to map ISIS communications, networks, and operational tactics.
“This is priceless,” Gorka stated. “Our experts are taking apart all of that information… We are so back in the game of counterterrorism.”
From ‘Watching’ to ‘Dealing Death’
Gorka framed the Nigeria operation as proof of a new U.S. posture under President Trump: aggressive, immediate, and no longer “watching and waiting.”
He recounted Trump’s reported order after being briefed on an ISIS leader who had killed Americans: “What do you mean we’re watching him? Kill him.” Less than 30 hours later, the strike was executed at 8:45 a.m. on a Saturday. The declassified strike video later posted on Truth Social reportedly hit 120 million views in eight hours.
The administration says the momentum is real: about 1,031 jihadists killed globally in the first 15 months, and 106 American hostages freed without ransom paid.
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Why Nigeria? Why Now?
The operation comes amid a deepening U.S.-Nigeria security partnership that expanded sharply from late 2025. After NSA Nuhu Ribadu led a delegation to Washington in November 2025, both countries set up a Nigeria-U.S. Joint Working Group on security, intelligence sharing, and military capacity building.
Gorka warned that Africa has become a key ISIS regrouping zone because of “ungoverned space” left after the caliphate’s collapse in Iraq and Syria. He said extremist groups exploit local conflicts over resources and ethnicity to push extremist ideology.
“If you’re threatening Americans, or if you’re targeting Christians because they’re Christians, he has a very strong message to send to you,” Gorka said, referencing President Trump.
The Bigger Prize: The Data
While the 199 dead marks a tactical win, U.S. officials say the intelligence haul could be strategic. The seized electronics are being analyzed to dismantle ISIS networks and pre-empt future attacks against the U.S. and allies.
One of the operation’s other wins was a joint Nigerian-U.S. strike in Borno that eliminated several ISWAP militants, including Deputy Leader Abu Bakr al-Mainuki.
Gorka also defended Trump’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, calling it the ideological root of ISIS, Al Qaeda, and Hamas.
Nigeria just hosted the U.S.’s most consequential counter-terrorism raid in over two decades by body count and by intelligence value. With ISIS now under pressure in West Africa and U.S.-Nigeria cooperation deepening, Abuja and Washington are signaling they are done waiting.
