Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al-Zubaydi, better known by his

noms 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'' France it would be adopted by each new recruit (or assigned to them by ...

Abu Nabil al-Anbari (), Abul Mughirah al-Qahtani () or Abu Yazan al-Humairi () was a commander in the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant 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 signi ...

(ISIL) and the leader of its Libyan branch. Al-Anbari was killed by a US military airstrike on 13 November 2015.

History

Abu Nabil al-Anbari was an

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 ...

i policeman in the

Anbar Province Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...

who, following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, joined

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 ...

and took part in the Iraqi insurgency. Arrested by American forces in 2008, Abu Nabil spent time in detention in

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 ...

before being released after a year and a half, upon which he returned to armed militancy. However, not long after he was released, he was captured and imprisoned again, being detained in

until he was freed by

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 an attack on Abu Ghraib prison and a mass prison break on 21 July 2013. He would later serve as ISIL's "governor" of Salahuddin Governorate, responsible for the group's operations there, including the attack on the city of

Samarra Samarra (, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The modern city of Samarra was founded in 836 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim as a new administrative capital and mi ...

. As the governor of Salahuddin Governorate, he was responsible for overseeing the execution of up to 1,700 Shia

Iraqi Air Force The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF; ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well as the policing of its international borders. The IQAF also acts as a support force for t ...

cadets in the

Camp Speicher massacre On 12 June 2014, the Islamic State (IS) summarily executed between 1,095 and 1,700 Iraqi cadets near Tikrit. The killings took place during IS's Northern Iraq offensive, when the cadets were captured outside of Camp Speicher during their at ...

. In 2014, ISIL's leadership dispatched him from Iraq to

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

as part of a delegation to gather pledges of allegiance to

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 ...

from local militants and lead the nascent

branch in the country.

Death

Al-Anbari was killed in a US airstrike outside of Derna, Libya on 13 November 2015. The ''

Libya Herald The ''Libya Herald'' () is an English-language newspaper based in Tripoli, Libya, launched on 17 February 2012. Creation The ''Libya Herald'' was launched on 17 February 2012, the first anniversary of the outbreak of the Libyan Civil War, and ...

'' reported local claims that al-Anbari had not been killed in the airstrike, however a eulogy to Abu Nabil al-Anbari was published online by a member of ISIL some weeks later. In a statement following the strike, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said "Abu Nabil's death will degrade SIL'sability to meet the group's objectives in Libya, including recruiting new members, establishing bases in Libya, and planning external attacks on the United States." He added: "Reporting suggests emay also have been the spokesman in the February 2015 Coptic Christian execution video," referring to a video which showed the beheading of 21 Egyptian Copts in Libya after their kidnapping in 2015. His killing was the first military action by the United States against an ISIL target outside of Iraq and Syria while still connected to the organization's core leadership (other militants struck in countries like Nigeria and Afghanistan are not believed by US officials to be directly linked to the Iraq and Syria based leadership). In January 2016, ISIL confirmed al-Anbari's death and launched a series of attacks and

bombings A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanic ...

across Libya named "the battle of Abu al-Mughira al-Qahtani" in his honour. Al-Anbari was succeeded as leader of ISIL in Libya by Abdul Qader al-Najdi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anbari, Abu Nabil al- 20th-century births 2015 deaths People killed in the Libyan civil war (2014–2020) Deaths by American airstrikes Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members from Iraq Members of al-Qaeda in Iraq Leaders of jihadist groups Year of birth missing Iraqi expatriates in Libya Former members of al-Qaeda