Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifa was head of IS's most senior decision-making body, the US Central Command said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has said that the head of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria was killed in an operation by members of the Iraqi national intelligence service along with U.

Iraq's prime minister has described Abu Khadija as "one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world". On Thursday, an airstrike targeted his vehicle and US forces said they had confirmed his death using DNA tests.

Islamic State leader Abu Khadija held the position of the so-called governor of Iraq and Syria and was also the head of its foreign operations offices.

The killing comes as the group has been reconstituting in Syria, carrying out more attacks than at any time since it lost control of its territory nearly six years ago.

Trump highlighted the collaborative nature of the operation, noting that it was carried out in coordination with the Iraqi government & the Kurdish Govt.

The leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has been killed, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying he was "relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters."

Iraqi operation that killed senior ISIS leader Abdullah Makki Muslih al-Rufayi, known as Abu Khadija. He was a key figure in ISIS, responsible for operations and logistics, and was killed in an airstrike on March 13.

Iraqi security forces, along with U.S.-led coalition forces, killed ISIS leader “Abu Khadija” in an airstrike.