The killing comes as the group is resurgent in Syria and carrying out more attacks than at any time since it lost control of its territory nearly six years ago.
Iraq's prime minister said an airstrike on Friday killed a senior Islamic State leader believed to have led the group in Iraq and Syria. The operation was carried out jointly by Iraq and the United States, using intelligence from both countries.
A senior U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, confirmed the strike and said special operations forces from both countries were in Anbar province in Iraq collecting evidence from the strike site.
Islamic State leader Abdullah Makki Muslih al-Rufai, also known as Abu Khadija, was “one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement.
Iraqi forces have been conducting an aggressive counterterrorism campaign for the past two years, disrupting, killing and arresting a number of Islamic State cells operating in the country with the support of from the United States.
The killing of the Islamic State's top leader in the Middle East comes as the group has been rebuilding in Syria, carrying out more attacks than at any time since it lost control of its territory nearly six years ago. In 2024, there were more than 300 attacks in Syria alone, according to the United Nations.
Mr. al-Rufai was considered a senior Islamic State leader in the region and is believed to have held several positions, including helping coordinate militant activities in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and elsewhere, according to the latest United Nations report.
He became the third Islamic State leader in Iraq and Syria to be killed since 2019. In the past, new leaders have been appointed relatively quickly, although their identities may not be widely known for some time.
Since 2019, when the Islamic State was defeated in Iraq and Syria, where it once controlled nearly a third of the geographic area of both countries, it has rebuilt and reorganized itself. Although it had already expanded into new countries before it lost its territory, the remaining branches were secondary to its center in Iraq and Syria.
Now with branches in more than a dozen countries on three continents, the organization has evolved, according to Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute who has studied the Islamic State for years. Some activities, such as media, are more centrally controlled, while others are left to its affiliates.
The deadliest attacks in 2024 – in Russia and Iran – were carried out by Islamic State militants believed to have collaborated with the group's affiliate known as IS-Khorasan, based in Afghanistan, according to the United Nations.
Eric Schmitt in Washington contributed to this report.
Alyssa J. Rubin covers the Middle East, including current conflicts and long-term issues like climate change. She lives in Paris. More about Alyssa J. Rubin
