(CNN) – Officials from both countries said they worked with Iraqi intelligence reporting agencies and security services to kill the famous leader of the Islamic state in an airstrike in western Iraq.
Abdallah Makki Muslih Al-Rifai, aka “Abu Khadijah,” known as the “Deputy Carriph” of extremist groups, “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shea Al Sudani said in a statement posted to X.
President Donald Trump posted on social media on Friday night, “The Iraqi ISIS fugitive leader has been killed. He has been cornered by our brave fighters. His miserable life, along with another member of ISIS, was fired in cooperation with the Iraqi government and Kurdish local government. Peace by force!”
“Global ISIS #2 Leader, Global Operations Chief and Commission EMIR” was killed along with another ISIS operative on a precision strike in Al Amber, Iraq on Thursday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
The US and Iraqi forces have found two ISIS members dead at the site of the strike. According to a CentCom statement, both were “wearing a non-explosive “suicide vest” and had multiple weapons.”
They identified Abu Kadija “through DNA matches from DNA collected in previous attacks in which Abu Kadija narrowly escaped,” the statement said.
As ISIS leader in Iraq and Syria, Abu Kadijah was “in charge of the operations, logistics and planning implemented by ISIS worldwide,” Centcom said. He also led a significant portion of the finances for the group’s global organization.
In his statement regarding the X, Iraqi Prime Minister Al Sudani said “Iraqis continue to have an impressive victory over the darkness and terrorist forces.”
Before a series of defeats by the US-led coalition nearly six years ago, ISIS, also known as the “caliphate,” shook most of Syria and northern Iraq, giving birth to affiliates across Africa and Asia.
It has organized a series of deadly terrorist attacks in European cities, continuing to operate as terrorist groups in more than 12 countries, and in recent years has inspired and supported individuals and cells in Europe and Russia.
Even if it is a currently loosely linked network, rather than a self-declared caliphate that controls quite a few cities, ISIS is far from mo-death.
The most notable attack claimed by ISIS in 2024 was a catastrophic attack on the Moscow shopping mall in March, killing at least 150 people and wounding more than 500 people.
US officials are concerned that the instability after the iron-driven regime of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad’s iron-driven regime could allow ISIS to expand from its remote desert base and regain its foothold in Iraq.
Iraqi leader Al Sudani was the first to announce the murder of an operative in a statement that came during his first visit to Iraq by top Syrian diplomats since Assad’s collapse.
The two countries have pledged to cooperate in combating terrorism, Al Sudani’s office said in a statement, adding that Iraq’s commitment to Syria’s security and stability “has a direct impact on regional stability.”
CNN Wire
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Katherine Dautrich of CNN contributed to this report.
