A high-profile ISIS leader and another operative of the Islamic terror group were killed in a targeted operation coordinated by the U.S. military and Iraqi forces, President Donald Trump announced Friday evening.
Trump touted the killing of Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, also known as Abu Khadijah, whom the president said was “relentlessly hunted down” before his demise.
“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!” he posted on Truth Social.
Khadijah was the second-in-command of ISIS’s global operations and in charge of the terror group’s finances. He and another ISIS member died Thursday in a precision airstrike in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, according to U.S. Central Command.
They were wearing unexploded “suicide vests” and carried weapons. Khadijah’s body was identified through a DNA match.
“Abu Khadijah was one of the most important ISIS members in the entire global ISIS organization,” General Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM, said 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.”
Despite losing its leaders and territory in the Middle East during Trump’s first term, ISIS remained active in Iraq and Syria while branching out to Africa, Asia, and Europe. The group is still considered a global threat.
ISIS affiliate ISIS-K claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a concert hall in March 2024 in Moscow, where 145 people were killed and more than 500 were wounded. The shooting came amid Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Earlier this month, ISIS-K member Mohammad Sharifullah confessed to training gunmen involved in that Moscow terror attack last year. He also admitted to scouting the attack route near an airport for the Abbey Gate bombing during the Biden administration’s chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan in 2021.
The suspect was arrested and charged for providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death. He made his first court appearance in Virginia on March 5.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani first announced the death of Khadijah earlier Friday, describing the “deputy caliph” as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world.”
Thursday’s precision airstrike marks the second such U.S. operation that has targeted ISIS members since Trump returned to office two months ago. In February, 14 ISIS operatives were killed in Somalia. Among the dead was a key ISIS recruiter in charge of finances and external operations.