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Gulf Insider
16-03-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
Senior ISIS Leader Killed By US-Led Joint Forces Strike In Iraq
Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, also known as Abu Khadija, was deputy caliph for ISIS and 'one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world,' according to a statement by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. 'The Iraqis continue their remarkable victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism,' al-Sudani wrote on social media platform X. Al-Rifai was killed in an airstrike in Anbar Province in western Iraq on March 15, conducted jointly by Iraqi national intelligence and U.S.-led coalition forces. President Donald Trump heralded the strike on his Truth Social media platform as an example of his 'peace through strength' foreign policy platform. 'Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed,' Trump wrote on Friday. 'He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters … in coordination with the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish Regional Government.' The strike is the third major blow to ISIS in recent months, following U.S.-led strikes against senior ISIS leaders and attack planners in Somalia in February and Syria in December 2024. ISIS, which controlled vast swaths of Iraq and Syria in 2015 and 2016, shifted to an insurgency strategy after losing much of its territory there and quickly expanded in both size and influence throughout much of northern and central Africa. The group remains an influential player among the many Islamist terror networks that have proliferated throughout the Middle East and Africa in the absence of stable governments. Civil leadership in Iraq is concerned about a possible resurgence of the group in the Middle East due to uncertainties about Syria's new government and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the region. Click here to read more…
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump says ISIS chief killed in Iraq
President Trump on Friday announced that ISIS's second in command was killed in Iraq this week, touting it as an example of his administration's 'peace through strength' military philosophy. 'He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters,' the president wrote on Truth Social Friday evening. '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!' U.S. Central Command confirmed the March 13 operation on Friday. According to officials, U.S. forces in coordination with Iraqi forces conducted a precision airstrike in the Al Anbar province and killed Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, also known as 'Abu Khadijah.' 'Abu Khadijah was one of the most important ISIS members in the entire global ISIS organization,' said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, in a statement. 'We will continue to kill terrorists and dismantle their organizations that threaten our homeland and U.S., allied and partner personnel in the region and beyond.' One other ISIS operative was killed in the strike, per U.S. officials. The strike was initially announced by Iraqi officials earlier on Friday. 'The Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism,' Iraq's Prime Minister Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement posted on the social platform X. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also praised the strike on Friday. 'Well done,' he wrote on X. U.S. officials stated that it found Khadijah and the other ISIS operative dead, wearing 'suicide vests,' and identified the former via DNA testing. This is the second strike that has targeted ISIS officials since Trump returned to the White House. In early February, the president ordered a precision strike in Somalia that U.S. officials say killed a senior ISIS 'planner.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Khaleej Times
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Iraq kills senior Daesh leader; Trump says his 'miserable life was terminated'
Iraqi security forces have killed a senior Daesh group leader responsible for foreign operations, according to the country's prime minister, with US President Donald Trump saying later Friday his "miserable life was terminated". Although Iraq had proclaimed in 2017 the defeat of the group on its territory, Daesh cells have remained active and carry out sporadic attacks against Iraq's army and police. Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufayi "was considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world", Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on social media platform X. The senior Daesh figure, sanctioned by the US in 2023, was the group's so-called governor of its Syrian and Iraqi provinces, according to the Iraqi premier. Rufayi was also "responsible for the foreign operations offices", Sudani said. He did not say when Rufayi was killed but applauded the operation by Iraqi intelligence that was carried out in cooperation with the US-led coalition in Iraq. "Today the fugitive leader of Daesh in Iraq was killed," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. "He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters. His miserable life was terminated, along with another member of Daesh, in coordination with the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish Regional Government." The US Central Command posted on X what appeared to be a video of the strike, which it said "killed the Global Daesh #2 leader... and one other Daesh operative." It said that both fighters had been wearing unexploded "suicide vests" and that it had identified Rufayi through a DNA match. Last October, Baghdad said Iraqi forces had killed nine Daesh group commanders. They included the so-called governor of Iraq for Daesh, Jassim al-Mazrouei Abu Abdel Qader, Iraq's Joint Operations Command said at the time. Daesh in 2014 declared a "caliphate" after capturing large parts of Iraq and Syria, beginning a rule marked by atrocities. Iraqi forces backed by the international coalition defeated the group in late 2017. The group lost its last territory in Syria two years later. The group has, however, maintained a presence in Syria's vast desert, and in Iraq largely carries out attacks in rural areas. About 2,500 American troops are deployed in Iraq, which now considers its security forces capable of confronting the jihadists. The US and Iraq announced in late September that the international coalition would end its decade-long military mission in federal Iraq within a year, and by September 2026 in the autonomous Kurdistan region.
