President Donald Trump took to Truth Social late Friday night to share that the "fugitive leader" of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was killed.
"He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters," the president wrote on Truth Social. "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 added.
The killing of ISIS' Deputy Caliph Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufay'i, also referred to as Abu Khadija, and another member of the terrorist group was first announced by Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Friday morning, approximately 13 hours before Trump took partial credit for the ISIS leader's death.
"The heroes of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, with support and coordination from the Joint Operations Command and the International Coalition forces, successfully eliminated the terrorist Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufay'i, known as (Abu Khadija)," Shia al-Sudani wrote in a statement shared to X Friday morning.
The Iraqis continue their remarkable victories against the forces of darkness and terrorism. The heroes of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, with support and coordination from the Joint Operations Command and the International Coalition forces, successfully eliminated the…
— محمد شياع السوداني (@mohamedshia) March 14, 2025
He added that Abu Khadija "was considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world" and went on to congratulate "Iraq, the Iraqi people, and all peace-loving nations on this significant security achievement."
The operation was conducted on Thursday and carried out by a targeted airstrike in the Anbar province in western Iraq, according to reporting by AP News.
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