Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli (; 1957 or 1959 March 2016), better known as Abu Ali al-Anbari (), was the governor for territories held by the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

(IS) in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. Considered the IS second-in-command (along with

Abu Muslim al-Turkmani Fadel Ahmed Abdullah al-Hiyali (died 18 August 2015), better known by his noms de guerre Abu Muslim al-Turkmani (), Haji Mutazz, or Abu Mutaz al-Qurashi, was the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) governor for territories held by the or ...

, his counterpart in Iraq), he was viewed as a potential successor of IS leader

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri (28 July 1971 – 27 October 2019), commonly known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was an Iraqi militant leader who was the founder and first leader of the Islamic State (IS), who proclaimed hims ...

. On 14 May 2014, he was listed as a

Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the U.S. Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S. Executive ...

by the U.S Treasury Department, and on 5 May 2015, the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

announced a reward of up to

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

7 million for information leading to his capture or death. On 25 March 2016, the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...

announced al-Qaduli’s death as a result of a US Special Operations helicopter gunship raid conducted earlier that week along the Iraq-Syria border.

Names

Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli used at least seven aliases, including Abu Ali al-Anbari, Abu Ala al-Afri (), Abu Jasim al-Iraqi, Abu Umar Qardash, Abu Ali Qardash al-Turkmani, Hajji Iman and al-Dar Islami. ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'' reported that confusion caused by these aliases led Iraqi and American security officials to think that Abu Ali al-Anbari and Abu Ala al-Afri were separate senior IS leaders.

Biography

Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli is believed to have been born in 1957 or 1959 in

Al-Hadar Al-Hadar (Arabic: الحضر) is a village and the center of Hatra District (Al-Hadar District) in Nineveh Governorate in Iraq. The ancient ruins of Hatra lie 2 km northwest of the modern settlement. The settlement's population and nearby vi ...

Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...

, 80 km south of

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

, to an

Iraqi Turkmen The Iraqi Turkmen (, عراق تورکمنلری; Arabic: تركمان العراق), also referred to as Iraqi Turks, (, عراق توركلری; ) are the third largest ethnic group in Iraq. They make up to 10%–13% of the Iraqi population. I ...

family who were Turkified, but were of

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

descent. His family was known to be very pious and conservative. According to his IS biography, he was descended from the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

. Biographical writings by his son, also a jihadist, state that al-Qaduli enrolled in the Iraqi army after completing his studies in

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

at an institute of

Tel Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of SinjarIran-Iraq war as a private. During this period, he obtained a degree in Islamic studies at the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public university, public research university in Baghdad, Iraq. It is the largest university in Iraq and the tenth largest in the Arab world. History The College of Isl ...

in 1982.Hassan Hassan
The True Origins of ISIS
''The Atlantic'', 30 novembre 2018. After his military service Abu Ali becomes increasingly radicalised. He first taught sharia in the small town of Mujama Barzan. On one occasion he vehemently opposed the organising of a party at which one of the city's socialites invited Ghajars — an ethnic group closely related to

Romanis {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , p ...

— renowned for their music and dancing. He was planning to attack the Ghajars, burning their tents and killing them but he limited himself to giving very inflammatory sermons. The party was eventually cancelled because of the pressure generated by al-Qaduli's speeches and incitements to violence. In the mid-1990s, al-Anbari returned to Tal Afar, where he taught in a school and became the imam of a mosque. Tal Afar is a city populated by Shiites and Sunnis. As an imam, al-Anbari violently attacked

Shiites Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

, as well as

Sufis Sufism ( or ) is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism, and asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are referred to as "Sufis" (from , ), and ...

. He also began to associate with Kurdish jihadists active in the mountains of northern Iraq.

Afghanistan

Al-Qaduli was believed to have travelled to Afghanistan in 1998 and trained with

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

. It was there that he was said to have earned the trust and respect of

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

Iraq

In 2000, he moved from Afghanistan to the area of Iraqi Kurdistan under control by Ansar al-Islam. He fled to Afghanistan following the

2003 US invasion of Iraq 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

, only to return in the summer of 2003 to the

Sulaymaniyah Sulaymaniyah or Slemani (; ), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and is the capital of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. It is surrounded by the Azmar (Ezmer), Goizha (Goyje) and Qaiwan (Qeywan) Mountains in the northeast, Bara ...

province of

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...

where the Ansar al-Islam organisation still held some territory in the mountains east of the city. He soon started his own

Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

Islamist insurgent group, Saraya al-Jihad (Squadrons of Jihad or the Jihad Squads), which was active around

Tal Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of Sinjar Abu Muslim al-Turkmani Fadel Ahmed Abdullah al-Hiyali (died 18 August 2015), better known by his noms de guerre Abu Muslim al-Turkmani (), Haji Mutazz, or Abu Mutaz al-Qurashi, was the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) governor for territories held by the or ...

, who led the military training. He later became a member of Ansar al-Islam. Ansar al-Islam evolved into

Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna Jamaat Ansar al-Sunnah (), also known as Jaish Ansar al-Sunna ('Army of the Helpers of Sunnah'), Ali ibn Abi Talib Battalion or simply as Ansar al-Sunnah was an Iraqi Sunni insurgent group that fought against United States troops and their loc ...

and Al-Qaduli was a sharia authority in this group. According to his biography, Al-Qaduli was responsible for arranging a meeting between

Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i Abu or ABU may refer to: Aviation * Airman Battle Uniform, a utility uniform of the United States Air Force * IATA airport code for A. A. Bere Tallo Airport in Atambua, Province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia People * Abu (Arabic term), a kunya ...

, leader of Ansar al-Sunnah and

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (; , "Father of Musab, of Zarqa"; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel Nazal al-Khalayleh (), was a Jordanian militant jihadist who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq a ...

, then leader of

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (), abbreviated as JTJ or Jama'at, was a Salafi jihadist militant group. It was founded in Jordan in 1999, and was led by Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for the entirety of its existence. During the Iraqi ...

. The meeting was to discuss a merger, which Shafi declined on the pretence of needing to ask his soldiers. Al-Qaduli pledged allegiance to Zarqawi and most of the members of Ansar al-Sunnah followed him in doing so. Soon after this, he was briefly arrested in late 2003 or early 2004, but was freed after a few months since authorities were not aware of his importance.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq

Following his allegiance to

in 2004, and joining

Al-Qaida in Iraq Al-Qaeda in Iraq (; AQI), was a Salafi jihadist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. It was founded on 17 October 2004, and was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until its disbandment on 15 October 2006 after he was killed in a targeted bombing on ...

, he was responsible for overseeing the

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

authorities in northern Iraq and serving as al-Zarqawi's local leader in

. He is often said that he was one of the founding members of the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) which was formed by al-Zarqawi in January 2006, but in fact he was elected the leader of the MSC under the pseudonym Abu Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi. In February 2006, he travelled to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

on behalf of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to meet with leaders of al-Qaeda and explain to them the reality of the situation in Iraq and disprove the allegations issued by the leaders of Ansar al-Sunnah who had been criticising Zarqawi to

Atiyah Abd al-Rahman Atiyah Abd al-Rahman (; 1969 – August 22, 2011), born Jamal Ibrahim Ashtiwi al Misrati, was reported by the US State Department According to the Islamic State's newsletter, al-Naba, he was arrested on 16 April 2006 in

Yusufiya Yusufiyah (; also transliterated as Yusafiyah, Youssifiyah or Yusifiyah, occasionally prefixed with Al-) is a regional township in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq. Background Yusufiyah is named after Yūsuf (Joseph). It is about south of Baghda ...

during

Operation Larchwood 4 Operation Larchwood 4 was an operation launched by B squadron of the British 22nd Special Air Service Regiment supported by US forces to attack an Al-Qaeda-occupied farmhouse in Yusufiyah, Baghdad Governorate, Iraq. The raid was a major succ ...

and was imprisoned at

Abu Ghraib prison Abu Ghraib prison (, ''Sijn Abū Ghurayb'') was a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, located west of Baghdad. Abu Ghraib prison was opened in the 1960s and served as a maximum-security prison. From the 1970s, the prison was used by Saddam Hus ...

for a second time. The Americans believed him to be the emir of Tal Afar but were unaware of his true status. While imprisoned, Qaduli mentored

Manaf Abd al-Rahim al-Rawi Manaf Abd al-Rahim al-Rawi (Arabic: مناف عبد الرحيم الراوي) (October 4, 1975 – April 1, 2013) was a senior Iraqi leader of Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), acting as its "governor" for Baghdad province. Al-Rawi was arrested on ...

and Huthaifa al-Batawi, who went on to become governors of Baghdad for the group.

Islamic State of Iraq

When al-Zarqawi's successors,

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi Abu Omar al-Baghdadi (; ; 1964 – 18 April 2010), born Hamid Dawud Mohamed Khalil al-Zawi () was an Iraqi militant who was the Emir of the Islamic militant umbrella organization Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC),Al-Qaeda names mystery man to su ...

and

Abu Ayyub al-Masri Abu Ayyub al-Masri ( ; , ', translation: "Father of Ayyub the Egyptian"; 1967 – 18 April 2010), also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir

were killed in a joint U.S-Iraqi raid in 2010, the

Islamic State of Iraq The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ') was a Salafi jihadist militant organization that fought the forces of the U.S.-led coalition during the Iraqi insurgency. The organization aimed to overthrow the Iraqi federal government and establish an ...

had to choose a new successor. According to ''

Al-Monitor ''Al-Monitor'' is a news website launched in 2012 by the Arab-American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel. Based in Washington, D.C., ''Al-Monitor'' provides reporting and analysis from and about the Middle East. ''Al-Monitor'' is the recipient of the I ...

'', Osama bin Laden wanted al-Qaduli to become the group's new leader. Islamic State sources confirmed that Osama bin Laden appointed Abu Ali al-Anbari to lead ISI, but affirm that his instruction came too late, two weeks after a pledge had already been made in May 2010 to appoint

as the new leader. Islamic State sources affirm that he was in charge of coordinating day-to-day military operations of the Islamic State in

al-Sham Syria, ( or ''Shaam'') also known as Greater Syria or Syria-Palestine, is a historical region located east of the Mediterranean Sea in West Asia, broadly synonymous with the Levant. The region boundaries have changed throughout history. Howe ...

. He was seen as a gifted speaker and served as a Sharii, and while he was in

Raqqa Raqqa (, also , Kurdish language, Kurdish: ''Reqa'') is a city in Syria on the North bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and b ...

, he gave a series of recorded lectures (over than 40 hours) at al-Imam al-Nawawi Mosque, that summarise the

Aqida ''Aqidah'' (, , pl. , ) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that means "creed". It is also called Islamic creed or Islamic theology. ''Aqidah'' goes beyond concise statements of faith and may not be part of an ordinary Muslim's religious ins ...

of the Islamic State and attempted to break down the arguments of man-made constitutions and laws, parliaments, courts, and democratic norms like devolution of power and popular sovereignty. One of his lectures in the northern

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

area was included in the 19th episode of the “Messages from the Land of Epic Battles” series by al-Furqan Media Foundation.

Syrian Civil War and ISIL

In early 2012, al-Qaduli was released from prison in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, after which he rejoined the

only a few days after his release. His first task was to establish communications with the various

affiliates around the world, which had been broken due to the security circumstances the group faced. The leaders of the central command of al-Qaeda had criticised the Islamic State of Iraq and ISI leaders believed that was due to their ignorance of the situation on the ground. During late 2012, al-Qaduli was sent to Syria to keep an eye on

Ahmed al-Sharaa Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (born 29 October 1982) also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a Syrian politician and former rebel commander serving as the president of Syria since January 2025. He previously served as the coun ...

and investigate the situation there, since Julani was failing to follow IS policy in various respects and had been building up his own power base in an attempt to split

Jabhat al-Nusra Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Nusrat Ahl al-Sham, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, and also later known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist regime forces ...

from ISI. Qaduli sent messengers and held meetings with field commanders of various Syrian rebel groups, offering them money and weapons to switch allegiance to ISIL. Some did so publicly, defecting with men and weapons, others did so in secret, remaining affiliated with their existing groups while organising the targeted assassinations of rivals. Memory sticks found by Iraqi security forces during a 2014 raid on the home of

Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi Adnan Ismail Najm al-Bilawi Al-Dulaimi ( 1971 – 4 June 2014), better known by the nom de guerre Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi al-Anbari (), was a top commander in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the head of its Military Council, prior ...

, ISIL's military chief of staff, identified al-Qaduli, named as Abu Ali al-Anbari, as being the overall head of ISIL military and non-military operations within Syria. According to his IS biography, at first Qaduli was not overly concerned by Julani since he "thought well of him, and thought the reports about him were the pure quarrels of a kind that occur between soldiers and their leaders." He later "saw with his own eyes the errors in the conduct of the work, and the deviation that was common among the soldiers and the leaders" due to a "neglect of shari’a education and training". Despite this, Qaduli felt that these mistakes could be remedied by more effort, and so he decided to live in the same house as Julani to "study his personality, and to assess his ability to lead." In January 2013, Qaduli sent a message to IS leader

, warning him about Julani. He wrote "He is a sneaky person with two faces. He loves himself and does not care about the religion of his soldiers. He is willing to sacrifice their blood just so he is mentioned in the media. He flies with joy like a children when his name is mentioned on the TV channels." Upon receiving the letter from Qaduli, Baghdadi decided to travel to Syria himself to try and correct the situation. In March 2013 there was a meeting between Qaduli, Baghdadi, Julani, Abu Maria al-Qahtani and some others where Julani cried and promised he would renew his allegiance to Baghdadi. Through this deception Julani hoped to buy time to split the organisation, though Baghdadi was not deceived. While in Syria, he was responsible for the Shari’a Council and a member of the Delegated Committee in Syria. He also worked to build the Dawawin or ministries of the new state and he was working from

which was the capital of the

. Sometime after the June 2014

Fall of Mosul The Fall Of Mosul in Iraq occurred between 4 and 10 June 2014, when Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) insurgents, initially led by Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, captured Mosul from the Iraqi Army, led by Lieutenant General Mahdi Al-Gha ...

, Qaduli decided to return to

Tal Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of Sinjar Sinjar Sinjar (; , ) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its population in 2013 was estimated at 88,023, and is predominantly Yazidi. History ...

against the

Peshmerga The Peshmerga () are the internal security forces of Kurdistan Region. According to the Constitution of Iraq, regional governments are responsible for "the establishment and organization of the internal security forces for the region such as p ...

and the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

. He actively took part in the

Sinjar massacre The Sinjar massacre () marked the beginning of the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL, the killing and abduction of thousands of Yazidis, Yazidi men, women and children. It took place in August 2014 in Sinjar city and Sinjar District in Iraq's Nineveh ...

s of the minority religious group

Yazidis Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish languages, Kurdish-speaking Endogamy, endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The major ...

. Some time later, he moved to

and returned to government work on the Islamic Monetary Project, introducing the new gold currency of the

. Al-Qaduli is rumoured to have favoured reconciliation with

and its Syrian affiliate

Al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Nusrat Ahl al-Sham, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, and also later known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist ...

, after

cut off ties with

ISIL The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

in early 2014. He also reportedly believed ISIL's leadership should be composed of both

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

and foreigners, in contrast to the dominance of Iraqis in the group. Al-Qaduli was a key coordination link between al-Baghdadi and his inner circle and his emirs in different provinces across the group's territory in Syria, Iraq and Libya. ''The New York Times'' reported in November 2015 that al-Qaduli had visited Libya, where IS had established a powerful branch centred in the city of

Sirte Sirte (; , ), also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, almost right in the middle between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups and loyal ...

. In March 2015, it was rumoured that

, leader of IS, had suffered injuries, leaving him incapacitated.

Hisham al-Hashimi Hisham al-Hashimi (; 9 May 1973 – 6 July 2020) was an Iraqi historian and researcher in security and strategic affairs and extremist groups, and a specialist on the subject of the Islamic State and its supporters. He also was an advisor to the I ...

wrote of al-Qaduli: "He is smart, and a good leader and administrator. If Baghdadi ends up dying, he will lead them." According to ''

The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1987. In 2016, it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainment ...

'', al-Qaduli was described by people who knew him as being dynamic, possessing operational experience and having very good contacts. It was reported that he was a charismatic preacher. But most importantly, al-Qaduli supposedly excelled in battle strategy. That is where he made his mark both in al-Qaeda and in IS.

Reports of death

According to the Iraqi Defence Ministry, Abdulrahman Mustafa al-Qaduli was killed on 12 May 2015, in a US-led coalition air-strike on a mosque in

Tal Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of Sinjar However, the video of the attack shown by the Iraqi Defence ministry was actually of a Coalition air-strike in Mosul, 40 miles away, on 4 May. The U.S. Defense Department said that it had no information to corroborate the claims, and

United States Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilit ...

stated that no mosques had been struck by Coalition aircraft. The Iraqi media again reported al-Qaduli’s death in a 12 December 2015 air-strike, but this was also disputed.

Confirmed death

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States federal executive departments, executive department of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. Armed Forces, a ...

Ashton Carter Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Be ...

, in a joint media briefing with

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: appointment; gra ...

General

Joseph Dunford Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. (born 23 December 1955) is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2019. He was the 36th commandant of the Marine C ...

on 25 March 2016, announced al-Qaduli's death, correcting earlier erroneous claims. US Special Operations forces commanded by JSOC arrived via helicopter to arrest al-Qaduli in eastern Syria near the Syrian–Iraqi border, while he and three other IS members were travelling in a vehicle coming from

. The US Special Operations forces ordered him to exit the vehicle. When he refused and pulled out an assault rifle instead, US forces fired at the vehicle, killing him and the other passengers on board. US commandos also seized electronics and other documents during the operation for intelligence purposes. On 30 April 2016, IS acknowledged al-Qaduli's death and launched a series of attacks across Iraq and Syria named "The Battle of Abu Ali Al Anbari" in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anbari, Abu Ali 1950s births 2016 deaths Iraqi Turkmen people Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Deaths by firearm in Syria Fugitives Iraqi al-Qaeda members Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members from Iraq Members of al-Qaeda in Iraq People from Mosul Military personnel killed in the Syrian civil war Former members of al-Qaeda