14-03-2025
Iraqi PM Al Sudani says senior ISIS leader killed
The leader of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, "considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world", has been killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani said on Friday.
Iraqi security forces, together with the US-led coalition fighting the militant group, killed Abdullah Maki Musleh Al Rifai – known as Abu Khadija – Mr Sudani said in a post on X.
Al Rifai "held the so-called position of deputy caliph, in addition to serving as the so-called Wali of Iraq and Syria, head of the Authorised Committee, and overseer of external operations offices", he said.
Mr Al Sudani did not give any details about how the ISIS leader was killed. A security official told Associated Press that he was killed in an air strike in the western province of Anbar, bordering Syria.
The US declared Al Rifai a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2023. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein warned on Sunday that ISIS posed an increasing threat to Iraq, Jordan and Syria. Speaking to reporters after a summit in Jordan, Mr Hussein stressed the need for a joint international and regional effort to counter the extremist group, which seized large areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The involvement of the US-led coalition in the operation against Al Rifai comes as Mr Al Sudani faces pressure from Iran-linked Iraqi political and armed groups to order US forces to leave the country.
