Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to US President Donald Trump and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, has claimed that US forces killed 199 jihadists in a single operation in Nigeria.
Gorka made the statement during an interview with Marissa Streit, CEO of conservative media organisation Prager, aired on June 24, where he discussed US counterterrorism operations.
Speaking on ongoing efforts against Islamist extremist groups, Gorka said: “I can talk about this because it has been declassified. The president is not nation-building; he’s not going around the world like some lunatic neocon saying, ‘we will turn the world into America,’”
He added that US forces had recently conducted a major strike in Nigeria: “But 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, whether it was his Christmas Day strike or, three weeks ago, what we did in Nigeria. Three weeks ago in Nigeria, and 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.”
He described the alleged operation as the largest such “neutralisation” since the September 11 attacks: “Now, why is this important? That is the biggest neutralisation enemy killed in action since September the 11th. One hundred and ninety-nine jihadists who will not harm Americans again.”
It was not immediately clear which specific operation Gorka was referring to, as US and Nigerian forces have previously conducted joint missions targeting ISIS-linked and ISWAP militants in the Lake Chad Basin.
Gorka also claimed that a significant amount of electronic intelligence was recovered during the operation: “From that raid we brought home, we needed an extra plane to bring home all the electronic material that we captured in those camps. The haul was three times bigger than any enemy electronics haul since 9/11. That is priceless, because now our experts are taking apart all of that information, looking at how ISIS is communicating with each other. We are so back in the game of counterterrorism.”
He further argued that Africa has become a key theatre for counterterrorism due to the spread of extremist groups exploiting instability and local conflicts, while noting US interest in security partnerships across the continent.
