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.
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”.
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.
