The United States has disclosed that a recent joint counterterrorism operation carried out with Nigerian authorities resulted in the elimination of 199 jihadist fighters and the recovery of what it described as the largest cache of enemy electronic intelligence materials seized since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The disclosure was made by Sebastian Gorka, the U.S. Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, during an interview with PragerU CEO Marissa Streit. According to Gorka, the operation was one of the most significant counterterrorism successes achieved under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Describing the raid, 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 continued:

“But if you’re threatening Americans, or if you’re targeting Christians, because they are 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.”

Recalling how he monitored the operation, Gorka added:

“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 further stated:

“Now, why is this important? That is the biggest neutralisation enemy killed in action since September the 11th — 199 jihadists who will not harm Americans again.”

Gorka also revealed that the volume of intelligence recovered during the mission was so extensive that an additional aircraft had to be deployed to transport the seized materials.

According to him:

“Not only that, from that raid we brought home, we needed an extra plane to bring home all the electronic material that we captured in those camps. And the haul was three times bigger than any enemy electronics haul since 9-11.”

He added:

“And 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. It is just superlative to watch our professionals.”

The U.S. official also said the Trump administration has eliminated more than 1,000 jihadists globally since taking office and explained why Africa has become a major focus of Washington’s counterterrorism strategy.

He said:

“Terrorists need ungoverned space. They need somewhere where they can hang out and rebuild. Africa has a lot of ungoverned space. That’s why I focus a lot of my attention on that region of the world where ISIS is trying to reconstitute a caliphate.”

The operation forms part of expanded security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States, which has intensified since late 2025 through intelligence sharing, military training, institutional reforms and joint counterterrorism initiatives. The collaboration followed agreements reached by officials from both countries to strengthen efforts against terrorism and violent extremism across Nigeria.