United States security forces collaborating with Iraqi intelligence and security services killed a key leader of the Islamic State (IS) in an airstrike in western Iraq, according to officials from Washington and Baghdad.

Militant leader Abu Khadijah, also known as Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, and deputy caliph of the militant outfit and one of the most lethal terrorists in Iraq and the world,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement published on X. Announcing on X, Iraqi PM al-Sudani said that “the Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism.”

President Donald Trump announced on social media that “the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was 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. PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!”

The “Global ISIS #2 leader, Chief of Global Operations and the Delegated Committee Emir” was killed alongside another ISIS operative in a precision strike on Thursday in Iraq’s Al Anbar province, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said. The US and Iraqi troops found the two ISIS members dead at the site of the strike. Both were

“wearing un-exploded ‘suicide vests’ and had multiple weapons,”

said CENTCOM in a statement. They identified Abu Khadijah

“through a DNA match from DNA collected on a previous raid where Abu Khadijah narrowly escaped,”

the statement said.

As an ISIS leader in Iraq and Syria, Abu Khadijah was responsible “for operations, logistics, and planning conducted by ISIS globally,” CENTCOM said. He also directed a significant portion of finance for the group’s global organization.

Before a series of losses by a US-led coalition nearly six years ago, ISIS – also known as the caliphate – controlled much of northern Iraq while breeding affiliates throughout Africa and Asia. It arranged a series of deadly terror episodes in European cities and continues to operate as a terror outfit in more than a dozen nations, inspiring and helping individuals and cells in Europe and Russia in recent years.

Despite the fact that ISIS is no longer a self-declared caliphate controlling large cities, it remains a strong threat. A devastating attack on a Moscow shopping mall, which killed at least 150 people and injured more than 500, was the most high-profile attack claimed by ISIS in 2024.

According to US officials, the collapse of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad may allow ISIS to expand from its desert strongholds and also retake control of Iraq. As part of his first visit to Iraq since the fall of Assad, Syria’s top diplomat announced the death of the operatives through a statement by Iraqi leader al-Sudani. Both countries committed to working together together to combat terrorism, al-Sudani’s office said in a statement, saying that Iraq’s commitment to Syria’s security and stability will have a “direct impact on regional stability.”

The Iraqis continue their remarkable victories against the forces of darkness and terrorism. The heroes of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, with support and coordination from the Joint Operations Command and the International Coalition forces, successfully eliminated the…

— محمد شياع السوداني (@mohamedshia) March 14, 2025