The Baghdad (AP), the Islamic State and Syria, was killed in Iraq in an operation by members of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, along with the US-led coalition forces, Iraqi Prime Minister announced on Friday.
“The Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism,” said Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in a statement published on X known as Twitter.
ABDALLAH MAKI MOSLEH AL-RIFAI, or “ABU Khadija”, was the “deputy halif” of the belligerent group and as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world,” the statement said.
A security officer said the operation was performed by an air strike in Anbar province, in West Iraq. A second employee said the operation took place on Thursday night, but this death of Al Rifai was confirmed on Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The message came the same day as the first visit to Syria’s best diplomat in Iraq, during which the two countries promised to work together to fight.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said at a press conference that “there are common challenges to Syrian and Iraqi society, and especially the terrorists of the IP.” He said the officials spoke “in detail about ISIS movements, whether on the border with Syrian Iraqi, inside Syria or inside Iraq” during the visit.
Hussein referred to an operational hall formed by Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon at a recent meeting in Amman to stand up and said that he would soon start work.
The relationship between Iraq and Syria is slightly implemented after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad. Al Sudani came to power with the support of a coalition of Iran -backed factions, and Tehran was Assad’s major Besterion. The current temporary acting President of Syria Ahmad al-Sharaa was previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani and fought as a belligerent al-Qaeda in Iraq after the US invasion in 2003, and later struggled against the Assad government in Syria.
But the Syrian temporarily acting Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani focused on historical ties between the two countries.
“Throughout the history, Baghdad and Damascus are capitals of the Arab and Islamic worlds, sharing knowledge, culture and economy,” he said.
Strengthening the partnership between the two countries “will not only benefit our peoples, but will also contribute to the stability of the region, which will make us less dependent on the external forces and better to determine our own destiny,” he said.
The operation and the visit come at a time when Iraqi officials are worried about resuming after Assad’s fall in Syria.
While the new rulers of Syria – led by the former rebel from the Islamist, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham – are chasing, is the cells after taking power, some are afraid of a breakdown of overall security that could allow the group to resume.
Last year, the United States and Iraq announced an agreement to terminate the Military Mission in Iraq of an American Coalition that has been fighting the Islamic State Group until September 2025, with US forces departing for some bases where they deployed troops during a military presence of two decades in the country.
When an agreement was reached to terminate the Iraq Coalition Mission, Iraqi political leaders said the threat of IS was under control and they no longer need Washington’s help to beat the other cells.
But the fall of Assad in December made some reassess this position, including members of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of mainly Shiite, political parties associated with Iran, which led the current Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudans to power at the end of 2022.
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Associated Press Abby Sewell employee in Beirut has contributed to this report.