Trump says ISIS leader was killed in Iraq and “fugitive leader pursues relentlessly” | World News
Iraqi Prime Minister said the country’s National Intelligence Agency personnel worked with joint forces commanded by the United States to kill the head of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement released on X: “The Iraqis continue to achieve impressive victory in the power of darkness and terrorism.
The statement said Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai or “Abu Khadija” was the “caliph” of the militant group and “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world”.
On Friday night, U.S. President Donald Trump said on his truth social platform: “Today, the fugitive leader of Iraq ISIS was killed. He pursued him ruthlessly in coordination with the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government.
“Peace by strength!” Trump added.
According to a CNN report, a security official said the operation was carried out by air strikes in Anbar province in western Iraq. Al-Rifai’s death was verified Friday, but the action took place Thursday night, according to a second official. They did not allow public comments, so they spoke anonymously.
The news comes the same day when Syria’s top diplomat first visited Iraq, during which the two countries promised to work together to fight.
“The challenges faced by Syrian and Iraqi society, especially IS terrorists,” the report said, adding that officials detailed the ISIS movement during their visit, whether on the Syria-Iraq border, within Syria or within Iraq.”
Hussein further mentioned a war room face-to-face with Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon in Amman and said that work will begin soon.
The relationship between Iraq and Syria has been somewhat fulfilled after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Sudani came to power with the support of a factional coalition supported by Iran, Tehran is a major supporter of Assad.
The current Syrian interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, was reportedly known as Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, and later fought as an al-Qaeda militant in Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003, and later fought Assad’s government in Syria.
The United States and Iraq announced a deal last year to end with a military mission with the ISIS group in combating Iraq by September 2025, with U.S. troops sending troops to some bases during the country’s twenty-year military presence.
Iraqi political officials announced that the threat posed by IS is under control and that after the coalition’s mission in Iraq was agreed to terminate, they no longer need Washington’s assistance to defeat the remaining cells.
However, Assad’s fall in December caused some to reassess the position, including members of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of primarily Shia, Iranian and Iranian political parties that brought incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani to power by the end of 2022.
