Iraq's security forces and the US-led coalition fighting ISIS have killed the leader of the militant group in Iraq and Syria, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani said on Friday.
Abdullah Maki Musleh Al Rifai, also known as Abu Khadija, was "considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world", Mr Sudani said in a post on X.
He "held the so-called position of deputy caliph, in addition to serving as the so-called Wali of Iraq and Syria, head of the Authorised Committee, and overseer of external operations offices", the Prime Minister said.
Mr Al Sudani did not give any details about how the ISIS leader was killed. A security official told AP that he was killed in an air strike in the western province of Anbar, bordering Syria.
The National has reached out to US Central Command for comment. The New York Times quoted a senior US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, as confirming the strike and saying that special operations forces from both countries were in Anbar province, gathering material from the strike site.
The US declared Al Rifai a specially designated global terrorist in 2023. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein warned on Sunday that ISIS posed an increasing threat to Iraq, Jordan and Syria. Speaking to reporters after a summit in Jordan, Mr Hussein stressed the need for a joint international and regional effort to counter the extremist group, which seized large areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The involvement of the US-led coalition in the operation against Al Rifai comes as Mr Al Sudani faces pressure from Iran-linked Iraqi political and armed groups to order US forces to leave the country.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shaibani said Damascus was ready to co-operate with Iraq in combating the terrorist group.
"Syria's security is integral to Iraq's security," he said on his first visit to Baghdad on Friday.
He also called for Iraq to open border crossings between the two countries, which were closed after the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham group deposed former Syrian president Bashar Al Assad.