Tariq bin al-Tahar bin al-Falih al-'Awni al-Harzi (1981 or 1982 – 16 June 2015), also known as Abu Umar al-Tunisi, was a Tunisian man and senior leader 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 ...

History

He was born either in 1981 or 1982, in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

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 ...

. According to the US government, he was one of first militants to join the

, traveling to Iraq as a foreign fighter after the US invasion of the country. In October 2007, IS personnel records were captured by coalition forces in a raid near

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 ...

. These records contain a mention of Abu Umar al-Tunisi. A note mentions that he was a soldier, had received medical treatment for an unspecified injury and was returning to his station in Abu Ghraib,

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 ...

Syria

2013

Since 2013, he was recruiting and facilitating the travel of fighters for IS. He was named IS's emir for the

Syria–Turkey border The border between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey (; ) is long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the tripoint with Iraq in the east. It runs across Upper Mesopotamia for some , crossing the Euphrates and ...

and he received new foreign fighter recruits and provided them light weapons training before sending them to Syria. He arranged the movement of Europeans to Turkey and on to Syria. He and other IS border officials assisted foreign fighters from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. In the middle of 2013, he worked with Abu Muhammad al-Adnani to move an individual to a training camp in

Deir ez-Zor Deir ez-Zor () is the largest city in eastern Syria and the seventh largest in the country. Located on the banks of the Euphrates to the northeast of the capital Damascus, Deir ez-Zor is the capital of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. In the 2018 ...

, Syria. Also around this time, he was a leader of foreign operations for IS and had ordered individuals to plan a large operation targeting a

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (; ), or UNIFIL (; ) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission established on 19 March 1978 by United Nations Security Council Resolutions United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 425 and Unit ...

commander. He also worked to help raise funds from Gulf-based donors for IS. In September 2013, he arranged for IS to receive approximately $2 million from a

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

-based IS financier, who required that the funds were used for military operations only. The Qatar financier also requested Abu Umar's help with funding efforts in Qatar. In late 2013, he was IS's amir of suicide bombers and a central part of the network that controlled suicide and vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attacks in

. As part of this role, he moved IS members from Syria into Iraq. In October 2013, he requested suicide bombers for operations in Iraq from a Syria-based associate. He also worked with his brother to procure and ship weapons from

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 ...

to Syria for IS.

2014

In early 2014, he was involved in recruiting North Africans to IS.

US and UN sanctions

On September 24 2014, he was designated by the

US Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...

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 ...

with a long list of alternate names and several alternative birthdates. His Tunisian passport number was Z-050399. On May 5, 2015 The U.S. Department of State'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 ...

offered a reward of US$3 million for information leading to his capture.

Death

Tariq al-Harzi was killed in a US drone strike at Shaddadi in north-eastern Syria on 16 June 2015. His brother Ali Awni al-Harzi was killed the previous day in a US airstrike on

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. An article in the

's newspaper al-Naba confirms that Tariq al-Harzi was responsible for suicide attacks, referring to him as "the good brother and inciter of the istishhadiyin (martyrdom seekers)" and gives his nom de guerre as Abu ‘Umar at-Tunisi. It also confirms his death by saying ' Rahimahullah' after his name.
/ref>

Family

His younger brother Ali Awni al-Harzi was also an Islamic militant and member of the

. He was killed a day before the death of his older brother. Their father's name is Taher Ouni Harzi while their mother's name is Borkana Bedairia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harzi, Tariq 1980s births 2015 deaths Assassinated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members Deaths by American airstrikes during the Syrian civil war Deaths by American drone strikes in Syria