WASHINGTON, March 15, 2025 (BSS/TASS) - US President Donald Trump has said on Truth Social that a leader of the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) in Iraq was eliminated.

"Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters," he wrote. He also noted that the operation was conducted in coordination with the government of Iraq and the authorities of the Iraqi Kurdistan.

On March 14, Iraqi Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief Mohammed Shia al-Sudani reported the elimination of one of the leaders of the Islamic State, known as Abu Khadija. According to him, Iraqi security forces carried out the operation with the support of international coalition forces.

The joint strike against Abu Khadija was also reported by the US Central Command (CENTCOM). US servicemen were able to confirm Khadija's identity using DNA matching. CENTCOM specified on X that the killed terrorist was responsible for logistics and planning of terrorist attacks by the Islamic State throughout the world. A different militant, whose identity was not disclosed, was also killed in the operation.

Militants of the Islamic State occupied roughly a third of Iraq's territory in the summer of 2014. In 2015, with the support of the international coalition, Iraqi government forces started a major campaign to liberate those areas. In December 2017, Heidar al-Abadi, Iraq's prime minister at the time, announced a total defeat of the Islamic State. However, security agencies are still conducting operations in different parts of the country to destroy the terrorist underground, whose members have been carrying out attacks on law enforcement officers, the military and civilians.