LNA Shells Headquarters of GNA's Ministry of Interior

A view of the old  A view of the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi/File Photo
A view of the old A view of the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi/File Photo
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LNA Shells Headquarters of GNA's Ministry of Interior

A view of the old  A view of the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi/File Photo
A view of the old A view of the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi/File Photo

The Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, announced that it hit military targets in Tripoli and Misrata, which belongs to the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces.

In a remarkable development, the Interior Ministry of the GNA announced Thursday that one of its affiliated buildings at airport road was targeted by an aerial offensive. The shelling resulted in enormous damage for the residential towns, while some of the ministry staff and civilians were wounded.

In a statement, the ministry considered that shelling its civil headquarters is an endeavor to halt its efforts in the security field and in establishing stability. It is also an attempt to spread chaos and terrorism.

The ministry reiterated its will to combat terrorism and crime as well as to protect citizens and state institutions.

This coincides with a reliable source from the premiership reporting that the Presidential Council asked its staff to evacuate the headquarters after news circulated that an attack against the council’s headquarters will take place.

Meanwhile, LNA launched Thursday raids against sites of Fayez al-Sarraj loyal-forces. LNA's Military Information Division revealed in a statement that this aerial campaign resulted in targeting sites and destroying them fully.

The division urged the capital residents to stay away from sites, warehouses of ammunition and camps affiliated with the militia of the Popular Mobilization Forces.

Moreover, the division announced that a man from Benghazi was arrested due to a video provoking against the army forces. After investigations, the Tariq bin Ziyad Brigade units headed to arrest him.

LNA's Karama operations media center warned parents of high school students in Tripoli of attempts by the militias to recruit their sons through alluring them with an amount of YDD 500 per day.



Head of ISIS in Iraq and Syria Has Been Killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Says

This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's press office shows Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) meeting with Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Baghdad on March 14, 2025. (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's press office shows Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) meeting with Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Baghdad on March 14, 2025. (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Press Office / AFP)
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Head of ISIS in Iraq and Syria Has Been Killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Says

This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's press office shows Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) meeting with Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Baghdad on March 14, 2025. (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's press office shows Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) meeting with Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Baghdad on March 14, 2025. (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Press Office / AFP)

The head of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been killed in Iraq in an operation by members of the Iraqi national intelligence service along with US-led coalition forces, the Iraqi prime minister announced Friday.

“The Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, or “Abu Khadija,” was “deputy caliph” of the militant group and as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world," the statement said.

A security official said the operation was carried out by an airstrike in Anbar province, in western Iraq. A second official said the operation took place Thursday night but that al-Rifai's death was confirmed Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

The announcement came on the same day as the first visit by Syria’s top diplomat to Iraq, during which the two countries pledged to work together to combat ISIS.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said at a news conference that “there are common challenges facing Syrian and Iraqi society, and especially the terrorists of ISIS.” He said the officials had spoken “in detail about the movements of ISIS, whether on the Syrian-Iraqi border, inside Syria or inside Iraq” during the visit.

Hussein referred to an operations room formed by Syria, Iraq, Türkiye, Jordan and Lebanon at a recent meeting in Amman to confront ISIS, and said it would soon begin work.

The relationship between Iraq and Syria is somewhat fraught after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Sudani came to power with the support of a coalition of Iran-backed factions, and Tehran was a major backer of Assad.

The current interim president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani and fought as an al-Qaeda militant in Iraq after the US invasion of 2003, and later fought against Assad's government in Syria.

But Syrian interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani focused on the historic ties between the two countries.

“Throughout history, Baghdad and Damascus have been the capitals of the Arab and Islamic world, sharing knowledge, culture and economy,” he said.

Strengthening the partnership between the two countries “will not only benefit our peoples, but will also contribute to the stability of the region, making us less dependent on external powers and better able to determine our own destiny,” he said.

The operation and the visit come at a time when Iraqi officials are anxious about an ISIS resurgence in the wake of the fall of Assad in Syria.

While Syria’s new rulers have pursued ISIS cells since taking power, some fear a breakdown in overall security that could allow the group to stage a resurgence.

The US and Iraq announced an agreement last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the ISIS group by September 2025, with US forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.

When the agreement was reached to end the coalition’s mission in Iraq, Iraqi political leaders said the threat of ISIS was under control and they no longer needed Washington’s help to beat back the remaining cells.

But the fall of Assad in December led some to reassess that stance, including members of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of mainly Shiite, Iran-allied political parties that brought al-Sudani to power in late 2022.