Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani says security forces have killed a senior Islamic State (ISIS) group leader responsible for "foreign operations".
Mr al-Sudani said in a post on X on Friday that Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufayi "was considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world".
"The Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism," Mr al-Sudani said.
Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rufayi, or "Abu Khadija," was "deputy caliph" of the militant group and as "one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world," Mr al-Sudani's statement said.
The jihadist, sanctioned by the United States in 2023, was ISIS's so-called governor of the group's Syrian and Iraqi provinces, according to the Iraqi premier.
Al-Rufayi was also "responsible for the foreign operations offices", Mr al-Sudani said.
He did not say when al-Rufayi was killed but applauded the operation by Iraqi intelligence that was carried out in cooperation with the US-led anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq.
US President Donald Trump on Friday evening local time also announced the death of an ISIS leader, saying in a statement on his Truth Social platform that he had been "relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters".
"His miserable life was terminated, along with another member of ISIS, in coordination with the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish Regional Government," Mr Trump said.
An Iraqi security official said the operation was carried out by an air strike in the Anbar province, in western Iraq. A second official said the operation took place on Thursday night but that al-Rufayi's death was confirmed on Friday local time.
The United States Central Command said that Al-Rufayi was considered to be ISIS's second-in-command.
"As the Emir of ISIS' most senior decision-making body, Abu Khadijah maintained responsibility for operations, logistics, and planning conducted by ISIS globally, and directs a significant portion of finance for the group's global organization," the organisation said in a statement on X.
"After the strike, CENTCOM and Iraqi forces moved to the strike site and found both dead ISIS terrorists.
"Both terrorists were wearing unexploded "suicide vests" and had multiple weapons.
"CENTCOM and Iraqi forces were able to identify Abu Khadijah through a DNA match from DNA collected on a previous raid where Abu Khadijah narrowly escaped."
The announcement came on the same day as the first visit by Syria's top diplomat to Iraq, during which the two countries pledged to work together to combat ISIS.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said at a news conference that "there are common challenges facing Syrian and Iraqi society, and especially the terrorists of IS."
He said the officials had spoken "in detail about the movements of ISIS, whether on the Syrian-Iraqi border, inside Syria or inside Iraq" during the visit.
Mr Hussein referred to an operations room formed by Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon at a recent meeting in Amman to confront ISIS, and said it would soon begin work.
The operation and the visit come at a time when Iraqi officials are anxious about an ISIS resurgence in the wake of the fall of Assad in Syria.
Although Iraq had proclaimed in 2017 the defeat of the jihadist group on its territory, ISIS cells have remained active and carry out sporadic attacks against Iraq's army and police.
Last October, Baghdad said Iraqi forces had killed nine ISIS group commanders, including the so-called governor of Iraq for ISIS, Jassim al-Mazrouei Abu Abdel Qader.
The US and Iraq announced an agreement last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by September 2025, with AmeeixN forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.
When the agreement was reached to end the coalition's mission in Iraq, Iraqi political leaders said the threat of ISIS was under control and they no longer needed Washington's help to beat back the remaining cells.
But the fall of Assad in December led some to reassess that stance, including members of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of mainly Shiite, Iran-allied political parties that brought Prime Minister al-Sudani to power in late 2022.
ISIS in 2014 declared a "caliphate" after capturing large parts of Iraq and Syria, beginning a rule marked by atrocities.
Iraqi forces backed by the international coalition defeated ISIS in late 2017, and the group lost its last territory in Syria two years later.
The group has, however, maintained a presence in Syria's vast desert, and in Iraq largely carries out attacks in rural areas. About 2,500 American troops are deployed in Iraq, which now considers its security forces capable of confronting the jihadists.
AP/AFP
