ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) said on Friday that it played a key role in killing senior Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abdullah Makki Muslih al-Rafiei, and slammed Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani for failing to credit them.
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 KRSC said.
Sudani had announced earlier in the day that Iraqi intelligence, with the support of the United States-led global coalition against ISIS, carried out an operation targeting Rafiei, aka Abu Khadija. He did not reveal where and when the operation took place.
The KRSC criticized Sudani for failing to credit the Kurdish forces.
"This oversight is not a good indication for the future of cooperation between the regional and federal institutions," the KRSC warned.
"The institutions affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Security Council have played an influential role in confronting the threat of terrorists in this region and will continue to effectively perform this duty. It would be better for the federal government to create a more favorable environment for cooperation and coordination for the sake of maintaining peace and stability throughout Iraq," it added.
Hours later, the Iraqi Special Operations Forces published the details of the operation, stating that it took place in Anbar province on Thursday. It also acknowledged the role of the KRSC in the operation.
Erbil and Baghdad have coordinated in many anti-ISIS operations in the past.
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.
Updated at 10:05 pm
