A senior leader of the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria, Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, also known as Abu Khadijah, has been killed in a joint operation involving the Iraqi national intelligence service and US-led coalition forces, according to the Iraqi prime minister.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani described Rifai as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world.” US President Donald Trump praised the operation, stating that the terrorist was “relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters.”
The US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed that it carried out a “precision airstrike” in Iraq’s western Al Anbar province on Thursday, which resulted in the death of Rifai, one of IS’s most senior figures. Rifai was the head of IS’s key decision-making body, overseeing operations, logistics, planning, and finances for the group globally.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, President Trump celebrated the killing, stating: “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!”
Rifai was found dead alongside another IS operative, with both wearing unexploded suicide vests and carrying multiple weapons, according to Centcom. The two terrorists were identified through DNA collected during a previous raid in which Rifai had narrowly escaped.
Gen Michael Erik Kurilla of Centcom emphasised the significance of the operation, stating: “Rifai was one of the most important IS members in the entire global IS organisation. We will continue to kill terrorists and dismantle their organisations that threaten our homeland and US, allied, and partner personnel in the region and beyond.”
IS: A Persistent Danger, Ten Years After Its Peak
At its height, IS controlled 88,000sq km (34,000sq miles) of territory spanning northern Iraq and Syria, ruling over nearly eight million people with brutal force. Although Iraq declared IS defeated in December 2017 and the group was expelled from its final stronghold in 2019, militants and sleeper cells still operate in various parts of the region, continuing to carry out sporadic attacks against Iraq’s security forces.
Despite the group’s territorial defeat, IS remains a persistent threat, with attacks continuing across Iraq and Syria.
