The United States has revealed that a recent counter-terrorism operation in Nigeria produced the largest cache of enemy electronic equipment seized by American forces since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Washington disclosed that the volume of intelligence materials recovered during the operation was so extensive that an additional aircraft had to be deployed to evacuate the devices and other captured equipment from the battlefield.
The electronic haul, according to U.S. officials, is now being analysed by American intelligence agencies in a bid to uncover how the Islamic State (ISIS) communicates, operates and coordinates its global network.
The disclosure was made by the United States Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, during an interview with PragerU Chief Executive Officer, Marissa Streit.
Gorka described the Nigerian operation as one of the most significant counter-terrorism successes of the current administration, comparing the mission to scenes from a Hollywood thriller.
According to him, the operation led to the killing of 199 jihadists in a single raid, which he described as the largest enemy neutralisation in a counter-terrorism operation since the September 11 attacks.
“I can talk about this because it has been declassified,” Gorka said.
“Three weeks ago in Nigeria, I watched it live from the Situation Room. It was like being in a Tom Clancy movie, but it’s better because it’s real. I watched our operatives kill 199 jihadists in one operation.
“That is the biggest neutralisation of enemy fighters killed in action since September 11. One hundred and ninety-nine jihadists who will not harm Americans again.”
He added that the intelligence recovered during the operation could prove even more valuable than the casualties inflicted on the terrorist group.
“From that raid we brought home so much electronic material that we needed an extra plane. The haul was three times bigger than any enemy electronics haul since 9/11.
“That is priceless because our experts are now taking apart all of that information and looking at how ISIS communicates with itself. We are back in the game of counter-terrorism,” he said.
The White House official said American intelligence agencies were currently examining the devices as part of broader efforts to dismantle ISIS networks and prevent future attacks against the United States and its allies.
Since late 2025, security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States has expanded significantly, evolving from largely advisory support to deeper intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism collaboration, military capacity building and institutional reforms.
The renewed partnership gathered momentum after National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu led a high-level Nigerian delegation to Washington in November 2025, where both countries agreed to establish a Nigeria-U.S. Joint Working Group on security matters.
One of the major outcomes of the enhanced cooperation was a joint operation in Borno State that reportedly eliminated several Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters, including the group’s deputy leader, Abu Bakr al-Mainuki.
Gorka said the latest operation reflected a more aggressive counter-terrorism strategy under President Donald Trump, arguing that the administration had abandoned what he described as a policy of “watching and waiting.”
According to him, U.S. forces eliminated about 1,031 jihadists globally during the administration’s first 15 months and secured the release of 106 American hostages without paying ransom.
“We are not watching and waiting. We are dealing death to bad people,” he said.
The counter-terrorism official warned that extremist groups continue to pose a major global threat and pointed to attacks by ISIS and other jihadist organisations, including violence against Christian communities in Nigeria.
“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 in reference to President Trump.
Speaking on the growing terrorist threat in Africa, he argued that the continent has increasingly become a destination for ISIS elements because of vast ungoverned spaces that provide safe havens for extremist groups.
“Terrorists need ungoverned space. They need somewhere they can rebuild. Africa has a lot of ungoverned space. That is why I focus a lot of my attention on that region where ISIS is trying to reconstitute a caliphate,” he said.
Gorka noted that many ISIS fighters displaced from Iraq and Syria following the collapse of the group’s self-declared caliphate relocated to parts of Africa.
While acknowledging that several African conflicts stem from local grievances involving resources, ethnicity and communal tensions, he argued that extremist organisations exploit such divisions to spread radical ideologies.
He said the United States was working closely with African governments to prevent terrorist groups from taking advantage of those conflicts.
The White House official also said relations between Washington and several African countries had improved under the current administration.
“We’ve been working intelligently. I sent a team to key states in Africa and said, we are not here to tell you what to believe. But if you have a terrorist threat, that is a threat to us. Let’s work together,” he stated.
Gorka further defended the Trump administration’s decision to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation, describing the group as the ideological foundation of several extremist movements, including ISIS, Al Qaeda and Hamas.
He said the designation was one of the administration’s most consequential counter-terrorism decisions.
The official also warned that radical Islamist groups could exploit migration routes and weak border controls to expand their operations, while praising efforts by U.S. homeland security agencies to tighten border security and disrupt terrorist networks.
Detailing how the operation in Nigeria received presidential approval, Gorka said Trump immediately authorised the mission after being briefed.
“We told the President this man had killed Americans and was planning to kill Americans, and we had been watching him for a year and a half,” he said.
“The President looked up and said, ‘What do you mean we’re watching him? Kill him.’
“He took out his sharpie pen and approved the operational order. Less than 30 hours later, we were in the Situation Room watching this ISIS leader being permanently removed from the battlefield.
“The President later declassified the video of the strike and posted it on Truth Social.”
The operation, according to U.S. officials, not only dealt a significant blow to jihadist networks operating in Africa but also delivered what Washington considers one of the most valuable intelligence windfalls in the global fight against terrorism since the 9/11 attacks.
