Baghdad: The Iraqi Prime Minister said that personnel of the country’s national intelligence service, working with coalition forces commanded by the United States, had killed the head of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as reported by CNN citing AP.
“The Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement posted on X.
Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, or “Abu Khadija,” was “deputy caliph” of the militant group and “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world,” the statement said, as reported by CNN.
On his Truth Social platform Friday night, US President Donald Trump said, “Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters” in coordination with the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government.
“PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!” Trump added.
As per a report by CNN, a security official said the operation was executed by airstrike in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. According to a second official, al-Rifai’s death was verified on Friday, but the operation happened Thursday night. They were not permitted to make public comments, so they talked on condition of anonymity. (ANI)
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