The international antiyihadist coalition led by USA confirmed on Saturday that his forces killed Abdulá Maki Musleh Al Rifai, number two of the Islamic State terrorist group (EI) and head of global operations in an air attack in western Iraq.
“On March 13, the forces of the central command of the United States, in cooperation with the Iraqi intelligence and security forces, carried out a precision air attack in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar that ended the life of the global leader number 2 of the IS, head of global operations and emir of the delegated committee, Abdulá Maki Musleh al Rifai, alias Abu Jadiya EI, “said the US central command in a statement.
Rifai had “The responsibility for operations, logistics and planning carried out by the IS worldwide, and directed a significant part of the finance of the Global Group Organization, “is pointed out in the note.
“One of the most important members of EI”
After the attack, the coalition and the Iraqi forces moved to the place of the attack and found the two terrorists who, according to the video published, were in a car dead.
“Both terrorists wore without exploiting suicide vests and had multiple weapons. The coalition and Iraqi forces were able to identify Abu Jadiya thanks to a DNA coincidence collected in a previous raid in which he escaped through the hair,” said the alliance.
The Commander of the United States Central Command, Michael Erik Kurilla, said in the statement that Abu Jadiya was “One of the most important members of the entire global organization.”
This confirmation occurs hours after Iraqi prime minister, Mohamed Shia al Sudani, announced the death of the “vicecalifa” of the IS.
In the operation, they also arrested “seven terrorists, including two women who maintained a relationship with the murdered criminal”, as well as five others in Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan.
His death is a new blow to the terrorist organization, whose leader and “caliph” is Abu Hafs al Qurashi since August 2023.
In recent months, Iraq has been announcing different operations in which he has killed high ranges of the group, which came to occupy a large part of the country from 2014 to 2017, date on which he was territorially defeated.
However, their remnants still have a presence in the country and carry out attacks, especially against Iraqi security forces.
With the fall of the Bachar al Asad regime last December, the Iraqi authorities raised the alert level in their porous border due to the possibility that the jihadists present in vast Syrian desert could cross Iraq before the power vacuum.
