The head of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria was killed in Iraq in the operation of members of the Iraqi national intelligence, together with the coalition forces led by the United States, the Iraqi prime minister announced on Friday.
“The Iraqi continues their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said in a statement published on X.
Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, or “Abu Khadi”, was a “deputy caliph” militant group and known as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world,” the statement said.
On his social platform on Friday night, President Trump said: “The fugitive leader Isis Iraq was killed today. He was tirelessly hunted by our fearless warriors” in coordination with the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government.
“Peace through strength!” Trump posted.
The security official said the surgery was carried out by an air attack in Anbar Province, in Western Iraq. Another official said the operation happened on Thursday night, but that the death of Al-Rifai was confirmed on Friday. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The announcement came the same day when the first visit to the Syrian Best Diplomat Iraq was committed to working together to fight the Islamic State.
Iraqi Foread Minister Fouad Hussein said at a press conference that “there are usual challenges facing the Syrian and Iraqi society, and especially the terrorist is.” He said officials spoke in detail about the movements of ISIS, either on the Syrian-Iraqi border, within Syria or within Iraq “during the visit.
Murtadha al-Sudani/Anadolu via Getty Images
At a recent meeting in Amman, Hussein faced the operating room formed by Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon and said that he would start working soon.
The relationship between Iraq and Syria is a bit full of The fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad. Al-Sudani came to power with the support of the Fraction of the supported Iran, and Tehran was the main assistant Assad. The current temporary president of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, was previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani and fought as a militant of al-Qaida in Iraq after the American invasion in 2003, and later fought against the Assad government in Syria.
But Syrian temporary Foreign Minister Asad Hassan Al-Symbani focused on historical connections between the two countries.
“Throughout history, Baghdad and Damascus have been the capital of the Arab and Islamic worlds, sharing knowledge, culture and economics,” he said.
Strengthening the partnerships of the two countries “will not only benefit our peoples, but will also contribute to the stability of the region, making us less dependent on external forces and better in the ability to determine our own destiny,” he said.
Operation and visit come at a time when Iraqi officials are concerned about the re -revival of the Islamic State in Awakening the fall of Assad in Syria.
While the new rulers in Syria, headed by the Islamist former rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-Proged Islamic State Station since they took power, some afraid of breakdown in total security This could allow the group to set up a re -increase.
The US and Iraq last year announced an agreement on the reduction of military mission in the Iraq of the coalition led by an American, fighting against the Islamic State Group until September 2025, and the US forces left some base where the troops were stationed during a two decades in the country.
When an agreement was reached to end the Iraq coalition mission, the Iraqi political leaders said that the threat of the Islamic State was under control and that they no longer needed the help of Washington to win the remaining cells.
But in December, the fall of Assad led to the re-examination of the attitude, including members of the coordination framework, the coalition of mostly Shiite, political parties filed by Iran, which brought in the current Iraq Prime Minister Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani in late 2022.
