Abu Hafs al-Urduni (; 1973 – November 26, 2006), also

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

as Abu Hafs al-Urdani, was a

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian militant fighting in

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

. He was killed in

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

on November 26, 2006.

Biography

Early life

Most of whatever little is known about al-Urduni, is known through the Russian media. It is however fairly certain that his given name is Farid Yusef Umeira, that he was born in

Zarqa Zarqa () is the capital of Zarqa Governorate in Jordan. Its name means "the blue (city)". It had a population of 635,160 inhabitants in 2015, and is the second most populous city in Jordan after Amman. History Although the area has been inhab ...

and that he participated in the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

, the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

, and the

Tajik civil war The Tajikistani Civil War,, group=pron also known as the Tajik Civil War, began in May 1992 and ended in June 1997. Regional groups from the Garm, Tajikistan, Garm and Gorno-Badakhshan regions of Tajikistan rose up against the newly formed gover ...

along with Khattab and

al-Walid Al-Walid may refer to: People * Khalid ibn al-Walid (592–642), one of the two famous Arab generals of the Rashidun army during the Muslim conquests of the 7th Century * Al-Walid I (668–715), Umayyad caliph who ruled from 705 to 715 * Al-Wal ...

. With the latter two he came to

in 1995 where he would remain until his death.

Chechen Wars

In the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second Chechen War Names The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...

he fought in the battalion of

Chechen Mujahideen The Mujahideen in Chechnya (, ''Muzhakhady v Chechnye''; ) were foreign Islamist Mujahideen volunteers that fought in Chechnya and other parts of the North Caucasus. It was created by Fathi al-Urduni in 1995 during the First Chechen War, where ...

under Khattab and, after Khattab's death, as al-Walid's deputy. After al-Walid's death in 2004, al-Urduni succeeded him as Amir of the battalion and issued a video statement about al-Walid's death, much the same way as al-Walid had done with his own predecessor, Khattab. As commander of the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya, al-Urduni faced increasingly harsh conditions for himself and his unit of foreign fighters. He likely took shelter in the

Pankisi Gorge Pankisi ( ka, პანკისი) or the Pankisi Gorge ( ka, პანკისის ხეობა, links=no, ''Pankisis Kheoba'') is a valley region in Georgia, in the upper reaches of River Alazani. It lies just south of Georgia’s hist ...

during the 2002 diplomatic crisis centred there. A man identified as "Abu Hafsi" with links to Al-Qaeda was reported to have escaped across the border to Chechnya before being apprehended. He was said to have been involved in both financial operations and the construction of a medical facility for fighters in the Gorge. Apart from the loss of their most prominent commanders and the relentless hunt for separatists by the Russian Federal Forces, funding for the battalion had also become a major problem due to anti-terrorism measures restricting financial transactions. Abu Hafs orchestrated and launched the 2004 Avtury raid and the 2006 Avtury ambush on Russian forces in Avtury, Chechnya. Videos of the ambushes were made and now circulate the internet.

Alleged links to al-Qaeda

Abu Hafs has been said to have connections to

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 ...

, although it is not clear if he was ever a member. Russian intelligence sources and media have repeatedly accused him of being al-Qaeda's

emissary Emissary may refer to: __NOTOC__ Arts and entertainment Star Trek * Benjamin Sisko, the Emissary of the Prophets, the Bajorans' gods * "Emissary" (''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''), the pilot episode of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' * "The Em ...

in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. His name is also found in a presentation of

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

, then

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

at the

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

in February 2003 just before the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, where al-Urduni was stated to be part of a supposed international network headed by

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 ...

. Al-Zarqawi later pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda's Osama Bin Laden, but in 2002-2003 was not a member. Al-Zarqawi led his own organisation,

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 ...

. In an interview with

Kavkaz Center The Kavkaz Center (KC; ) is a privately run website/ portal which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic". The stated mission of the site is to report events related to Chechnya and also to "provide ...

, al-Urduni once expressed his sympathy 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 ...

and

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 ...

, although he did not admit to being part of the organization. On a different occasion he condemned the Beslan hostage crisis and denied personal involvement.The Jamestown Foundation; ABU HAFS AND THE FUTURE OF ARAB FIGHTERS IN CHECHNYA
Whether or not he was an agent of al-Qaeda or if there are, or have been, any formal ties between the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya and al-Qaeda remains unclear.

Death

November 26, 2006, Abu Hafs al-Urduni was killed in a gunfight with

Russian special forces SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

in Khasav-Yurt, Dagestan. Russian sources claim the fire fight lasted for four hours, and that four other rebels were killed in the encounter. The

later confirmed al-Urduni's death, but claims only two other rebels were killed in the fighting. December 9, 2006, Qoqaz News, the Chechen Mujahideen online news agency, reported that Muhannad had succeeded al-Urduni as commander of the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya.Site Institute; The Commander Muhannad Assumes the Leadership of the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya Following the Death of Abu Hafs al-Urduni
/ref>

References

External links

The Jamestown Foundation; ABU HAFS AL-URDANI: THE QUIET MUJAHID

The Jamestown Foundation’s Chechnya Weekly; The Rise and Fall of Foreign Fighters in Chechnya

Prague Watchdog; The radicalisation of the Chechen separatist movement: Myth or reality?

GlobalTerrorAlert; Communiqué from Abu Hafs al-Urdani (Jordan), Commander of the Foreign Mujahideen in Chechnya
nowiki>(PDF)
Site Institute; Qoqaz News Confirms Death of Chechen Mujahideen Commander Abu Hafs al-Urduni

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urduni 1973 births 2006 deaths People from Zarqa 20th-century Jordanian people 21st-century Jordanian people Jordanian Sunni Muslims Jordanian Salafis Jordanian Islamists Foreign volunteers in Chechnya Warlords Islamic terrorism in Russia Guerrillas killed in action