The leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria was slain, Iraq’s prime minister confirmed on Friday.
Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, also known as “Abu Khadija,” was killed in an operation carried out by Iraqi national intelligence officers and coalition forces lead by the United States, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced in a statement.
The prime minister referred to al-Rifai as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world.”
U.S. President Donald Trump responded to the news on his social media network Truth Social, stating that al-Rifai’s “miserable life was terminated.”
“Today, the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed,” Trump tweeted Friday night. “He was mercilessly pursued by our courageous warfighters. His terrible life was ended, along with another member of ISIS, in collaboration with the Iraqi and Kurdish Regional Governments.”
“Peace through strength!” the president added.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that its forces, in cooperation with Iraqi intelligence and security forces, conducted an airstrike in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, killing the “Global ISIS #2 leader, Chief of Global Operations and the Delegated Committee Emir – Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, alias ‘Abu Khadijah,’ and one other ISIS operative.”
As the Emir of ISIS’ most senior decision-making body, Abu Khadijah is responsible for ISIS’ global operations, logistics, and planning, as well as directing a major amount of the group’s global finances, according to CENTCOM.
Following the hit, U.S. and Iraqi forces moved to the location and discovered two deceased ISIS targets, both of whom were wearing unexploded “suicide vests” and carrying various weapons, CENTCOM stated.
US and Iraqi forces were able to identify al-Rifai using DNA from a prior raid in which he nearly escaped.
“Abu Khadijah was a key member of ISIS’s global structure. “We will continue to kill terrorists and dismantle their organizations that threaten our homeland and U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region and beyond,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.