Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Friday confirmed the killing of Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufay’i, also known as Abu Khadija, the leader of the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria. He described Abu Khadija as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world.”
According to the Prime Minister, the operation was carried out by Iraqi security forces with the support of the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS, news agency Reuters reported.
Islamic State, which once controlled vast territories in Iraq and Syria, has been attempting to regain strength in the Middle East, the West, and Asia. The group had declared a “caliphate” in 2014 under its then-leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed in a U.S. special forces raid in northwestern Syria in 2019.
The U.S. Central Command had reported last July that IS was trying to “reconstitute following several years of decreased capability.” The assessment was based on IS claims of mounting 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria in the first half of 2024, a figure that could more than double the number of attacks the group claimed the previous year.
History of Islamic State
Between 2014 and 2017, IS imposed hardline Islamist rule over large parts of Iraq and Syria, enforcing brutal punishments on opponents and orchestrating attacks globally. At the height of its power, the group held territories close to Baghdad and operated from strongholds in cities like Mosul and Raqqa.
Following a sustained military campaign led by a U.S.-backed coalition, the IS caliphate collapsed in both Iraq and Syria. Since then, the group’s leadership has remained largely secretive, with the new leader, known by the pseudonym Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, staying out of public view.
With the loss of its strongholds, IS has transitioned to guerrilla-style warfare, operating in small, scattered cells. Many of its fighters have taken refuge in remote areas across Iraq and Syria, while some foreign militants have moved to countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria, as per Reuters.
A significant number have joined the IS Khorasan branch (ISIS-K), which operates along Iran’s borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Afghan branch, under the leadership of 29-year-old Sanaullah Ghafari, has grown into one of the deadliest IS factions, capable of launching attacks beyond its strongholds in Afghanistan’s border regions.
Beyond the Middle East, IS—also known as ISIS, ISIL, or the pejorative Daesh—has established a foothold in various parts of Africa, where it continues to expand its influence.
