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U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that a senior ISIS leader in Iraq, Abu Khadija, along with another unidentified member of the terror group, was killed in a joint operation conducted by U.S., Iraqi, and Kurdish forces.
Trump, Iraqi Prime Minister Confirm Death
“Today, the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters,” Trump stated in a post on Truth Social. Acknowledging the efforts of Iraqi and Kurdish forces, he added, “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 announcement was corroborated by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who confirmed that the target of the operation was Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufay’i, also known as Abu Khadija. The Iraqi security forces, with support from the U.S.-led coalition, carried out the mission to neutralize the high-ranking ISIS operative.
Who Was Abu Khadija?
Abu Khadija was considered one of the most dangerous terrorists operating in Iraq and beyond. His influence within ISIS’s command structure had made him a potential contender for the position of the group’s worldwide leader, or “caliph.” His elimination marks a significant blow to ISIS’s operational capabilities in the region.
The Islamic State, which once controlled large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, has been striving to reassert itself in the Middle East, the West, and Asia. The group had imposed strict Islamist rule over millions of people before its territorial defeat.
ISIS’s former leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared a caliphate over nearly a quarter of Iraq and Syria in 2014. However, the group faced major setbacks in subsequent years, culminating in Baghdadi’s death during a U.S. special forces raid in northwest Syria in 2019.
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