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Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (; born Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi (); 1 or 5 October 1976 – 3 February 2022) was an Iraqi
militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...
and the second
caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
of 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 ...
. His appointment by a
shura council In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura (; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a khalifa (Islamic leader) may be selected, the other way being b ...
was announced by the Islamic State media on 31 October 2019, less than a week after the death of the previous caliph
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 ...
. Al-Qurashi's tenure as caliph saw the Islamic State being mostly limited to
insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...
activity in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
, but also make substantial advances in Africa, where IS increased its territories and influence. The U.S.
Rewards for Justice Program Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is United States Department of State's national security interagency program that offers reward for information leading to the location or an arrest of leaders of terrorist groups, financiers of terrorism, inclu ...
was offering up to $10 million in exchange for information leading to al-Qurashi's apprehension. On 3 February 2022, al-Qurashi killed himself, and members of his family, by triggering a large bomb during a raid by the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command.


Speculations about his identity

When he was announced as the successor of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, nothing was known about al-Qurashi other than the name he had been given by the Islamic State: Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. His Arabic
onomastic Onomastics (or onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use. An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onom ...
or ''nisbah''al-Qurashisuggested that he, like Baghdadi, claimed a lineage to
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
's tribe of
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 ...
, a position that offers legitimacy in some quarters. Al-Qurashi's name was believed to be a ''
nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...
'' and his real name was unknown at the time. The possibility that al-Qurashi was Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi had already been raised on the day of al-Qurashi's coming to power, but this was uncertain at the time. Muhammad Ali Sajit, the brother-in-law and aide of al-Baghdadi, who was caught in June 2019, also believed that "Hajji Abdullah", a top aide to al-Baghdadi, was al-Qurashi, the new leader. Rita Katz, director of
SITE Intelligence Group SITE Intelligence Group is an American for-profit consultancy group that tracks online activity of white supremacist and jihadist organizations. It is led by the Israeli analyst Rita Katz and based in Bethesda, Maryland. From 2002 to 2008, Katz h ...
, believed that it was unlikely that the Islamic State would "release any video speeches from this new leader or at least ones that show his face". Nonetheless, on 1 November 2019, then U.S. president
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
stated on social media that the U.S. government had identified al-Qurashi's true identity. However, a report on 5 November 2019 by '' The National'' said that this "does not seem to be the case" and that "reports indicate that Iraqi, Kurdish and American officials say they don't have much to go on". The
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), also known as Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in honor of Meir Amit, is an Israel-based research group. ITIC has close ties to the Israel Defense Forces. Its repor ...
correctly speculated on 5 November that al-Qurashi was of Iraqi nationality. The '' Small Wars Journal'' agreed with this assessment, stating that Iraqis constitute the majority of the Islamic State members and would not accept a non-Iraqi leader for the organisation. A report on 23 December 2019 by the ''
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...
'' expressed doubt that al-Qurashi existed at all. It stated that the Islamic State was possibly caught off guard and announced a name as a holding move, to "create the impression it is on top of things". On 20 January 2020, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' released a report confirming al-Qurashi's true identity as Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi. On 20 May 2020, the Iraqi Intelligence Service identified a captured militant as al-Qurashi; however, the military clarified that this was actually Abdul Nasser Qardash, a potential successor to al-Baghdadi. Al-Qurashi was still outside Iraqi custody at the time.


Biography


Early life and education

Al-Qurashi was born on 1 or 5 October 1976 as Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi. Most sources—including al-Qurashi—state that he was born in al-Muhalabiyyah near
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 ...
,
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 ...
. Alternatively,
Tal Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of Sinjar including by a short biography published by IS supporters. His father was a
muezzin The muezzin (; ), also spelled mu'azzin, is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day ( Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque from the minaret. The muezzin ...
with two wives; he had six brothers and nine sisters. Al-Qurashi claimed to be Arab, but many sources have claimed that his family was Turkmen. According to
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 ...
genealogy expert Nizar al-Saadoun, most of al-Qurashi's clan—the —is Arab, and descended from the
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...
Burisha clan which in turn were related to Muhammad's clan. The U.S. military also classified him as Arab in 2008. However, two of his brothers became leaders within Turkmen organizations. Official IS sources later described his family as being part of 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 ...
, Muhammad's tribe, albeit a "Turkified" branch. Based on a later IS biography of al-Qurashi, regional expert Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi argued that he was "Turkmen by language, not necessarily racial lineage". Al-Qurashi's family followed a Sufist form of Islam, and he also claimed that he was a Sufi in his early years. He was educated 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 the University of Mosul, majoring in
Quranic studies Quranic studies is the academic study of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. Like in biblical studies, the field uses and applies a diverse set of Academic discipline, disciplines and methods, such as philology, textual criticism, lex ...
and Islamic education. After graduating with honors in 2000, he was conscripted and served as a
private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
or officer in the
Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...
. He likely forged contacts to jihadist groups during his military service. According to pro-IS sources, he "repented" his state service after meeting Abu Ali al-Anbari. Researcher Hassan Hassan described al-Qurashi as the "disciple" of al-Anbari, and a pro-IS biography of al-Qurashi claimed he studied " Ilm" under al-Anbari.


Al-Qaeda and early career with the Islamic State

After the end of
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's rule following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he joined
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 ...
's Iraqi branch (then known as
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 ...
, short "ISI"), and served as a religious commissary and a general Sharia jurist. Al-Qurashi's motives for joining al-Qaeda remain unclear. When he was interrogated later in life, he gave conflicting reasons, either stating that he had "joined ISI in order to stop fighters attacking innocent people" or because he had been requested to teach classes to ISI members. He climbed the group's ranks while completing his
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in Mosul. As part of al-Qaeda, he reportedly also served as militant for
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 ...
under Abu Ali al-Anbari and co-founded a militant base called the "al-Jazira camp". As a local insurgent officer, he led rebel forces against the United States during the Battle of Tal Afar (2005). In 2007, al-Qurashi was appointed al-Qaeda's general religious judge and later deputy
emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...
for Mosul. At the time, he would give lectures at the city's Furqan Mosque. Within the Iraqi al-Qaeda branch, he became part of a faction called "Qaradish", formed by followers of Abu Ali al-Anbari. This faction would later come to dominate the IS high command. On 6 January 2008, he was arrested by U.S. forces and detained at
Camp Bucca Camp Bucca () was a forward operating base that housed a theater internment facility maintained by the United States military in the vicinity of Umm Qasr, Iraq. After being taken over by the U.S. military (800th Military Police Brigade) in April ...
in southern Iraq. While in prison, he falsely claimed to have joined al-Qaeda in 2007 and that he had served as deputy to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. The U.S. military would later claim that he had become a willing informant during his imprisonment. A U.S. official stated: "He did a number of things to save his own neck, and he had a long record of being hostile—including during interrogation—toward foreigners in ISIS." However, the truthfulness of these claims have been doubted by analysts. Hassan Hassan argued that "well-placed Iraqi sources" described the allegations of al-Qurashi having acted as informer as being "weak" and highly unlikely, as the Islamic State usually withheld any high-ranking commands from anyone that would have become a "snitch" which was not the case for al-Qurashi. The later pro-IS biography stated that al-Qurashi was "preoccupied with lecturing" at Camp Bucca. He was released in 2009 under unclear circumstances. Following his release, al-Qurashi rejoined al-Qaeda's ISI and began to work under
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 ...
, the group's new regional commander for Iraq. He was appointed Sharia official for the Mosul sector and later rose to al-Qaeda judge of ''Wilayat Ninawa'' (Ninawa Province, an entity proclaimed by insurgents). Shortly before the completion of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, one of al-Qurashi's brothers, Amer al-Mawla, was murdered, possibly by al-Qaeda. Amer had served as the head of the Turkmen Student Union at the University of Mosul at the time. Eventually, al-Qurashi joined the Sharia Commission and began acting as Abu Ali al-Anbari's "lieutenant". In 2013, disputes erupted between Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's forces (by then transitioning from "ISI" to "ISIS") and the Syrian
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 ...
, resulting in violent clashes despite both factions being officially loyal to al-Qaeda. Amid this unrest, al-Qurashi was sent to Syria to bolster ISI's presence there and set up new local "detachments and institutes". In 2014, al-Qurashi officially left al-Qaeda, reaffirming his loyalty to the Islamic State (which had previously operated as ISI). He played a key part in the Islamic State's capture of Mosul in June 2014. In the following
Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014) The Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014) began on 4 June 2014, when the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, assisted by various insurgent groups in the region, began a major offensive from its territory in Syria into Iraq against Iraqi and K ...
, he led IS forces in the capture of Tal Afar and later also commanded troops in the Battle of Zumar. Along with Abu Layth Al-Ansari, he was one of the main Islamic State leaders who orchestrated the genocidal mass killings of
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 ...
during 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 ...
in August of that year. The Islamic State also systematically enslaved captured Yazidi women; this move was controversial within the organization, with many Iraqi commanders opposing the practice. However, al-Qurashi was one of the most important supporters of the decision to revive slavery, and was backed by non-Iraqi IS members in this regard. By this point, he had risen to deputy of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and was responsible for eliminating critics of the caliph within the Islamic State. Furthermore, he became supervisor of ''Wilayat al-Iraq'' ("Iraq Province") and head of the Islamic State's treasury department after Abu 'Ala. At some point, he additionally served as justice minister for the Islamic State, and also acted as supervisor for the other ministries. His importance further increased after 2015 due to the deaths of several other leading IS commanders, leaving him as one of the organization's most important figures. A U.S. airstrike targeted him near Mosul in the same year; al-Qurashi lost his right leg in the attack.


Rise to power

When IS began to lose more and more of its territory from 2016, al-Baghdadi ordered that the Islamic State should prepare for its return to an insurgency modus operandi. Al-Qurashi was put in charge of preserving the organization's finances and ideology in the face of repeated defeats. He was based at al-Qa'im until the town was attacked by Iraqi security forces in October 2017, whereupon he relocated to Syria. Despite this, the pro-IS biography also claimed that al-Qurashi took part in the concurrent
Battle of Mosul (2016–2017) The Battle of Mosul (, ''Ma'rakat al-Mawṣil'') was a major battle initiated by the Iraqi Government forces with allied forces to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIL), which had seized the city years prior in June 2014. I ...
. From 2017 to 2018, discontent grew in IS due to repeated defeats, resulting in a so-called " fitna" and the rise of "Jahmism and Irja", ideological divergences within IS. Al-Qurashi reportedly played a major role in suppressing the internal dissent and killed several IS members who had voiced misgivings over Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's leadership. He also continued to work on reforming the internal structure of IS, restructuring the old ministries to focus solely on military activity and firing unnecessary IS officials. Following the
Battle of Baghuz Fawqani The Battle of Baghuz Fawqani was an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), assisted by Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) coalition airstrikes, artillery, and special forces personnel, that began on 9 ...
, al-Baghdadi designated al-Qurashi as his successor. According to the Islamic State, al-Qurashi was a veteran in fighting against Western nations, being a religiously educated and experienced commander. At the time, IS described him as "the scholar, the worker, the worshipper", a "prominent figure in jihad", and an "
emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...
of war". Less than a week after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019, al-Qurashi was elected by a shura council as the new caliph of the Islamic State, indicating that the group still considers itself a caliphate despite having lost all of its territory in Iraq and Syria. Al-Qurashi's appointment was supposedly done in accordance with the advice of Baghdadi, meaning the new emir was named as a successor by Baghdadi himself. Further evidence that al-Qurashi may have been appointed successor by Baghdadi may be inferred from the relatively quick succession of Baghdadi. Al-Qurashi's coming to power followed several days of speculation and denial surrounding Baghdadi's death among the Islamic State supporters. The general expectation was that al-Qurashi would become "the leader of a frayed organisation that has been reduced to scattered sleeper cells" and the ruler of a "caliphate of ashes". Some analysts believed that Baghdadi's death would likely cause the Islamic State to splinter, "leaving whoever emerges as its new leader with the task of pulling the group back together as a fighting force". However, other analysts believed that Baghdadi's death would not have much of an impact on the Islamic State "in terms of operational capacity" and that it was likely "not to result in the group's demise, or really even bring about a decline". In addition, journalist Feras Kilani pointed out that IS still commanded at least 10,000 militants in Syria and Iraq by al-Qurashi's rise to power, meaning that the "caliph without a caliphate" was far from defeated.


Leader of the Islamic State

Al-Qurashi's appointment as caliph was contentious within the Islamic State, and many IS members had misgivings about him. Some IS supporters disparagingly described him as "secluded paper caliph" and "unknown nobody". On 2–3 November 2019, al-Qurashi's caliphacy was criticised as illegitimate by the al-Wafa' Media Agency, an online media outlet previously aligned with the Islamic State before turning against it in March 2019. It was argued that "the Prophet decreed obedience to leaders who exist and who are known ... not obedience to a nonentity or an unknown". Further, it was argued that the council which elected al-Qurashi did not qualify as legitimate since it lacked three qualifications for the caliph's electors: justice, knowledge, and wisdom—which the council lacked, since it had sent Baghdadi to Idlib, which had earlier been deemed by them a "land of unbelief", when he "would have been much safer hiding in the desert". Further disqualifying the council was the fact that the council had "shed innocent Muslim blood and embraced extremism in the practice of excommunication" (
takfir ''Takfir'' () is an Arabic language, Arabic and Glossary of Islam, Islamic term which denotes excommunication from Islam of one Muslim by another, i.e. accusing another Muslim of being an Apostasy in Islam, apostate. The word is found neither ...
). As a final note, the al-Wafa' Media Agency stated that nothing was left for a would-be caliph to preside over—"You do not recognize that God has destroyed your state on account of your oppression." Such direct and open criticism was the exception, however, and al-Qurashi quickly asserted his control over the Islamic State, maintaining its cohesion. IS supporters defended the secrecy surrounding al-Qurashi as being rooted in security concerns. In 2019, al-Qurashi received pledges of allegiance from the Islamic State's Sinai province and Bangladeshi affiliates (2 November), Somalia Province (3 November), Pakistan Province and Yemen Province (4 November), Hauran Province and
Khorasan Province Khorasan ( ; also transcribed as Khurasan, Xorasan and Khorassan), also called Traxiane during Hellenistic and Parthian Empire, Parthian times, was a Provinces of Iran, province in northeastern Iran until September 2004, when it was divided in ...
(5 November),
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
(6 November), West Africa province, Levant Province –
Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...
, Levant Province – al-Khayr, Levant Province –
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 ...
, East Asia Province and Central Africa Province (7 November), East Asia Province (8 November), West Africa Province – Mali and Burkina Faso and Levant Province - al-Barakah (9 November), Levant Province – Halab (12 November), Iraq Province –
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
(14 November), Libya Province (15 November), Iraq Province – Dijlah (16 November), Iraq Province – Diyala (17 November), Iraq Province – Salah al-Din (18 November), Iraq Province –
Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...
(19 November), East Asia Province – Indonesia (22 November), Azerbaijani affiliates (29 November), and in 2020 from the Islamic State's Malian affiliates (31 January), a new jihadist group called ''Katibah al-Mahdi fi Bilad al-Arakan'' in Myanmar (November 2020). These pledges of allegiance appeared to be intended to illustrate the legitimacy and unanimous acceptance of al-Qurashi, to counter criticism that he was unknown and illegitimate. At the time of his appointment as IS leader, al-Qurashi was believed to covertly operate in eastern Syria, probably in territory held by the
Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...
. His first aim after taking control was to build up a new command structure for the Islamic State which had lost many of its high-ranking members. On 23 December 2019, ''
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...
'' commented that al-Qurashi had "not provided visible leadership". However, al-Qurashi demonstrated his control over IS by coordinating the "Vengeance for the Two Sheikhs" campaign from late December 2019 to January 2020, an operation consisting of many terrorist attacks in several countries which were supposed to act as revenge for the deaths of al-Baghdadi and IS spokesman Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir. The
United Nations 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 ...
consequently judged in January 2020 that the Islamic State had undergone a resurgence in Iraq and Syria. Though these successes were partially attributed to al-Qurashi's leadership, he still remained a shadowy figure. The UN Security Council suggested that the Islamic State feared that al-Qurashi lacked some credentials that were usually necessary for a caliph, and kept him out of the spotlight so as to not endanger his position. On 24 March 2020, the U.S. Department of State designated al-Qurashi 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 ...
(SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. The United States also organized an extensive manhunt for him. He eventually relocated to a safehouse in Atme in northwest Syria near its border with
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. There, he lived mostly secluded with his wife and two children, as well as two other families. One of these belonged to a top lieutenant on whom he relied—alongside a network of couriers—to command IS forces across the world. The third family had no apparent connection to IS. By late 2021, the Islamic State under al-Qurashi's command had greatly grown in strength in Africa. The Islamic State's West Africa Province had massively expanded its influence in the
Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...
, and IS branches had opened new fronts in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
and
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
. The pro-IS biography on his life also emphasized his alleged role in the IS expansion in
East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
and in "revitalis ngthe centrality of Iraq and al-Sham in the war on the idolaters". In September 2021, a U.S. spy drone spotted a bearded man missing his right leg sun bathing atop a three-story building in northwest Syria, which matched the physical description of al-Quraishi. The United States consequently prepared for a commando raid.


Death

On 3 February 2022, U.S. President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
announced that U.S. military forces had successfully undertaken a
counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...
operation in Atme, resulting in the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. According to reports from neighbours, a loudspeaker in Arabic called for neighbouring civilians to evacuate the area, followed by U.S. forces and an Arabic interpreter on the ground making the same announcements. A senior
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
official told
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
that al-Qurashi then detonated a bomb which killed himself and 12 more people, including members of his family, during the Joint Special Operations Command operation. The explosion was so powerful that al-Qurashi's corpse was blown out of one of the windows. Following the explosion, U.S. special operations commandos entered the building and engaged in a firefight with survivors, including a lieutenant of al-Qurashi, who was also killed. According to initial reports from the Syria Civil Defense ( White Helmets), four women and six children were among the dead. Later reports from the Syria Civil Defense claimed 13 people were killed. Biden said that the civilian casualties were caused by the explosion of al-Qurashi's bomb. A fighter of
Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...
was also killed in a brief shootout with U.S. forces after he noticed the raid taking place. There were no reported U.S. casualties, although one U.S. helicopter experienced mechanical problems and landed in a separate area, where it was destroyed by another U.S. aircraft. The survivors of the raid, including the family which was not related to IS, and the four children of the IS top lieutenant, were released by the U.S. forces. The four children were subsequently taken into the custody of Tahrir al-Sham. File:Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi raid from the Pentagon (51860089641).jpg, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley observe from the Pentagon the raid that killed al-Qurashi File:President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and members of the President’s national security team observe the counterterrorism operation responsible for removing from the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.jpg,
President Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 and re ...
, Vice President Harris and members of the President's national security team observe the counterterrorism operation which resulted in al-Qurashi's death File:President Biden Delivers Remarks on a Successful Counterterrorism Operation (Mtw D4dltLQ).webm,
President Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 and re ...
's remarks announcing al-Qurashi's death


Reactions to the raid

The raid took place a few hundred meters away from Turkey, within a Syrian area under its influence, raising questions about the competency of Turkey in monitoring the area. A parallel was made with 2019's raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's compound, the previous IS leader, which was located south of Atime, away from Turkey, in the same area within Turkey's sphere of influence. Field surveillance in the area is handled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a rigorous jihadist group and observable ally to Turkey. The area is also known to receive and host migrating families from various war-torn regions making identification and surveillance difficult and an ideal spot for al-Qurashi and others to hide. The Syrian Defense Forces denounced the presence of Al-Qurashi and Al-Bagdadi in Turkish-supported HTS areas as additional evidence of Turkey providing safe haven to IS forces. ''
The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
'' pointed out the presence of the two last IS leaders at the very border of Turkey unveils that IS does not feel threatened by Turkey, and its area of influence is perceived by IS as a safe haven for its top leadership. ''
The Long War Journal ''FDD's Long War Journal'' (LWJ) is an American news websites, news website, also described as a blog, which reports on the War on terror. The site is operated by Public Multimedia Incorporated (PMI), a non-profit media organization establis ...
'' argued that al-Qurashi's death was unlikely to weaken the Islamic State in the long term, as his "tenure as caliph proved the Islamic State's capability to expand its influence no matter who ranks highest". A day after the killing making the front page, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' also claimed that his death, while a blow to IS, does not change the long term dynamic. The Global Network on Extremism and Technology identified 8 forms of response to al-Qurashi's death among IS supporters: # Denial over al-Qurashi's death # Warnings to fellow supporters about believing non-IS news sources # Information sharing and seeking about the US special forces raid such as images of the compound and maps of the surrounding area # Sharing and refuting a picture claimed to be al-Qurashi in death # Hostile remarks towards the '' kuffar'' # Warnings about the circulation of fake Al Furqan media foundation announcements # Hypothetical acceptance of the news # Thoughts and quotes on martyrdom In May 2022, IS's West Africa Province said that it had killed 20 Nigerian Christian men in
Borno State Borno is a States of Nigeria, state in the North East (Nigeria), North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It is bordered by Yobe State, Yobe to the west, Gombe State, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa State, Adamawa to the south while its ea ...
in a
mass execution Mass killing is a concept which has been proposed by genocide scholars who wish to define incidents of non-combat killing which are perpetrated by a government or a state. A mass killing is commonly defined as the killing of group members witho ...
as a retaliation for al-Qurashi's assassination. In 2023, one year after his death, a brief biography of Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi emerged online in prominent Islamic State supporter circles.


Succession

IS did not issue a statement regarding al-Qurashi for several weeks after his death. On 14 February, The Global Network on Extremism and Technology speculated that the group was "biding its time to carefully craft a response that will maintain some semblance of authority". A report on 2 March by the Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Terrorism stated that internal divisions within IS, as well as a state of confusion, were stalling the appointment of a successor to al-Qurashi. An article from
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...
stated that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi would be difficult to replace, as many potential leaders had died in the years preceding Al-Qurashi's death. It was suggested that the next IS leader would be Iraqi, because "in the past three years IS has become a strong Iraqi organization again". On 9 February, Egyptian newspaper '' Al-Watan'' identified the following individuals as likely candidates: * Mu'tazz Nu'man Abdul-Nayef al-Jabbouri * Ziad Jawhar Abdullah * Bashar Khattab Ghazal al-Samidi * Abu Hamzah al-Qurashi al-Muhajir * Nayif Hamad Shayya' On 2 March, The Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Terrorism provided a different list of likely candidates: * Jomaa al-Badri ** Nine days later, the real name of the eventual successor to al-Qurashi was stated to be Juma Awad al-Badri on 11 March, by two unnamed Iraqi security officials. * Abu Safa al-Rifai * Abu Loqman * Abu Mohammed al-Shimali On 10 March 2022, IS confirmed the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi and declared that Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi had assumed the position of caliph. In a later statement, IS clarified that Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi had already been appointed as successor the day after Abu Ibrahim's death, and that the announcement had only been delayed due to the field situation.


Notes


References


Works cited

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Qurashi, Abu Ibrahim Hashimi 1976 births 2022 deaths 2022 suicides 21st-century caliphs Al-Qaeda leaders Articles containing video clips Critics of Shia Islam Date of birth uncertain Familicides Fugitives wanted by Iraq Fugitives wanted on terrorism charges Fugitives wanted by the United States Former members of al-Qaeda Iraqi al-Qaeda members Iraqi amputees Iraqi Ground Forces officers Iraqi male criminals Iraqi mass murderers Iraqi prisoners and detainees Iraqi Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members from Iraq Islamist suicide bombers Leaders of jihadist groups Members of al-Qaeda in Iraq Murder–suicides in Syria People from Nineveh Governorate Prisoners and detainees of the United States military Suicide bombings in Syria Suicides by explosive device University of Mosul alumni Yazidi genocide perpetrators