Trump takes credit for killing ISIS leader in Iraq after White House releases video of op: All you need to know

US President Donald Trump on Friday took credit for killing a senior Islamic State terrorist leader in Iraq, according to his recent post on Truth Social platform.

Abdullah Makki Muslih al-Rufayi, also known as Abu Khadija, was eliminated in an operation by Iraqi security forces, announced PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

“Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters. 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!” Trump wrote. He later shared this post on X.

The White House on Saturday also released a video of the operation, involving US and Iraqi forces, on X. The operation was carried out on March 13.

The operation that killed Abu Khadija

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM), in a post on X, said a precison airstrike was conducted with Iraqi intelligence and security forces that killed Khadija and and another ISIS operative.

“After the strike, CENTCOM and Iraqi forces moved to the strike site and found both dead ISIS terrorists. Both terrorists were wearing unexploded “suicide vests” and had multiple weapons. CENTCOM and Iraqi forces were able to identify Abu Khadijah through a DNA match from DNA collected on a previous raid where Abu Khadijah narrowly escaped,” CENTCOM’s post said.

According to a CNN report, the operation was carried out by an airstrike in Anbar province, in western Iraq. Another official told the CNN that the operation the operation took place on the night of March 13 but Khadijah’s death was confirmed a day later.

Who was Abu Khadija

CENTCOM described Khadija as the “Emir of ISIS’ most senior decision-making body.” “Abu Khadijah maintained responsibility for operations, logistics, and planning conducted by ISIS globally, and directs a significant portion of finance for the group’s global organization,” it said.

“Abu Khadijah was one of the most important ISIS members in the entire global ISIS organization. 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,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander, US Central Command.

Abu Khadija joined al-Qaeda in 2009. Two years later, he was apprehended and imprisoned, but he managed to escape from Tasfirat prison in 2011. He resurfaced in 2014, coinciding with ISIS’s rapid expansion across Iraq and Syria.

Ascending quickly within the ISIS, Khadija held various critical positions, including security chief for Kirkuk province, before eventually assuming the role of “Wali of the Blessed Land”. This position placed him in command of ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria, making him a key architect of the group’s attempts to regenerate its capabilities in the region.

Syria, Iraq pledge to combat ISIS

The announcement came on the same day as the first visit by Syria’s top diplomat to Iraq, during which the two countries pledged to work together to combat IS.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein, according to the CNN report, said at a news conference that “there are common challenges facing Syrian and Iraqi society, and especially the terrorists of IS.” He said the officials had spoken “in detail about the movements of ISIS, whether on the Syrian-Iraqi border, inside Syria or inside Iraq” during the visit.

Hussein further referred to an operations room formed by Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon at a recent meeting in Amman to confront IS and said it would soon begin work.

The relationship between Iraq and Syria is somewhat fraught after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Sudani came to power with the support of a coalition of Iran-backed factions, and Tehran was a major backer of Assad.

The current interim president of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, was earlier reportedly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani and fought as an al-Qaida militant in Iraq after the US invasion of 2003 and later fought against Assad’s government in Syria.

The US and Iraq had announced an agreement last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by September 2025, with US forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.

(With inputs from agencies)