Iraq
Undated photo of a woman the US military said is Umm Hussein, wife of Islamic State’s (ISIS) second-in-command. Photo: Al-Hadath TV
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The wife of the Islamic State’s (ISIS) second-in-command was captured in the same operation that killed her husband, the United States military said on Saturday.
“U.S. Central Command commends Iraqi Intelligence and Security forces on the successful operation leading to the capture and arrest of Chechen ISIS terrorist Umm Hussein, the wife of ISIS leader Abu Khadija, who was killed in a strike on March 13,” read a statement from CENTCOM, the US military command in the Middle East.
Abu Khadija, whose full name is Abdullah Makki Muslih al-Rafiei, was killed in an operation in Anbar province carried out by Iraqi and American forces with Kurdish assistance.
CENTCOM said that two other ISIS members were captured in the operation and called it a testament to Iraq’s commitment to dismantling ISIS networks.
“CENTCOM, with our partners and allies, remain steadfast in our efforts to eliminate ISIS and prevent its resurgence,” the statement said.
Rafiei was killed "after several years of investigation and relying on information from the Kurdistan Region Security Council, in coordination with the coalition and later with Iraqi federal forces," the Kurdistan Region Security Council said on Friday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said that Rafiei was "one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world."
The United States in 2023 named Rafiei a Specially Designated Global Terrorist as an ISIS leader.
ISIS seized control of swathes of territory in northern and central Iraq in 2014. Their so-called caliphate was brought to an end in 2017, but the group continues to pose a security threat particularly in the disputed territories that stretch across several provinces including Diyala, Salahaddin, Kirkuk, and Nineveh, as well as across the border in Syria.
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