The heads of Islamic states in Iraq and Syria were killed in Iraq in an operation by members of the Iraqi National Intelligence Agency along with US-led coalition forces, the US Central Command and the Iraqi Prime Minister announced on Friday.
“The Iraqis continue to have an impressive victory over the darkness and the forces of terrorism,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shea al-Sudani said in a statement posted to X.
Abdallah Maki Mosleh Al-Rifai, or “Abu Khadija,” is the “Deputy Caliph” of extremist groups and is known as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world.”
On his true social platform on Friday night, President Trump wrote: “Today, the ISIS fugitive leader in Iraq has been killed. He has been mercilessly cornered by our brave fighters in cooperation with the Iraqi and Kurdish local governments.”
“Peace through power!” posted by Trump.
In a social media post, Centcom reported that Abuqadija was killed in a “precision airstrike” in an operation that involves Iraq’s intelligence news agency and the Centcom forces on Thursday in Al Amber, Iraq. The second ISIS surgery was also killed on a strike. Aerial video of the strike has also been released.
Following the airstrikes, US and Iraqi troops moved to find both the dead terrorists wearing unresolved suicide vests and armed with multiple weapons, Centcom said. Abu Khadijah was identified using DNA tests collected during the previous RAID he escaped.
“Abuqadya was one of the most important ISIS members across the global ISIS organization,” General Michael Eric Kurira, commander of Centcom, said in a statement. “We will continue to kill terrorists and dismantle organizations that threaten our hometown and our alliances and our partner staff.”
The announcement came on the same day as the first visit by top Syrian diplomats to Iraq. Meanwhile, the two countries pledged to cooperate in fighting the Islamic state.
“There is a common challenge facing Syrian and Iraqi associations, especially terrorists, face IS terrorists,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Huad Hussein said at a press conference. He said authorities said “in detail about ISIS’s movements, whether during the visit, whether it’s within Syria-Iraq’s border, within Syria or within Iraq.”
Murtadha al-Sudani/Anadolu via Getty Images
Hussein said at a recent meeting in Amman that he faced, he mentioned the operational office formed by Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, and would soon start work.
Iraq and Syria are somewhat plagued The collapse of former Syrian President Bashar Assad. Al Sudani came to power with the support of a coalition of Iran-backed factions, and Tehran was Assad’s main supporter. Ahmad al-Shara, the current interim president of Syria, formerly known as Abu Mohamed Al-Gorani, fought as an al-Qaeda extremist in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion and later fought Syrian Assad’s government.
However, Syrian interim foreign minister Asad Hassan Al-Albani focused on the historic ties between the two countries.
“Through history, Baghdad and Damascus have been the capitals of the Arab and Islamic world, sharing knowledge, culture and economy,” he said.
He said strengthening the partnership between the two countries “not only benefits our people, it also contributes to regional stability, reduces dependence on external forces, and allows us to better judge our own destiny.”
Operations and visits come when Iraqi officials are worried about the revival of the Islamic State. Awakening of Assad’s collapse In Syria.
The new ruler of Syria is led by former Muslim rebel Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham – has been pursuing Islamic state mobile phones since he came to power. I’m afraid of the overall security breakdown This will allow the group to carry out a revival.
Last year, the US and Iraq announced an agreement to close the US-led coalition’s military mission to combat Iraq’s group by September 2025.
When an agreement was reached to end the coalition’s mission in Iraq, Iraqi political leaders said the threat of the Islamic State was under control and they no longer needed Washington’s help to defeat the remaining cells.
However, the collapse of Assad in December would result in a reevaluation of its stance that involves members of the coordination framework, a predominantly Shia, coalition of coalitions, a political party allied to Iran that exerted current Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Siah al-Sudani in power in the second half of 2022.
