Khalid Al-Aruri
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Khalid Mustafa Khalifa al-Aruri (; 25 July 1967 – 14 June 2020), known as Abu Al-Qassam and Abu Ashraf, was a Palestinian-Jordanian Islamic militant and a member of
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 ...
who was the leader of the
Hurras al-Din Tanzim Hurras al-Din (), sometimes referred to as Al-Qaeda in Syria, was a Salafi Jihadist organization that fought in the Syrian civil war. The group's former head, Abu Humam al-Shami, was the general military commander of the defunct Al-Nusr ...
.


History

Khalid al-Aruri was born on 25 July 1967, in
Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...
on the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. He grew up in the city of
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 ...
in
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 ...
and was a Jordanian citizen. While in Zarqa he met
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 ...
and in 1989 both men traveled to
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
, staying there until 1993. In 1991, he is said to have worked for the
International Islamic Relief Organization International Organization for Relief, Welfare and Development (Welfare; ), formerly known as the International Islamic Relief Organization or International Islamic Relief Organization of Saudi Arabia (IIROSA), is a charity based in Saudi Arabia ...
. From 29 March 1994 until March 1999, they were imprisoned together in
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 ...
and al-Zarqawi founded his Bayt al-Imam organization. After their release, the two traveled again to Afghanistan where Al-Aruri become the commander of Al-Zarqawi's jihadi training camp near
Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...
. The relation between al-Qa'ida top leader
Saif al-Adel Mohamed Salah al-Din al-Halim Zaidan (; born 11 April 1960/1963), commonly known by his ''nom de guerre'' Saif al-Adel (), is an Egyptian Islamic militant who is the '' de facto'' leader of al-Qaeda. Previously an Egyptian Army officer, Al-Adel ...
and Khalid al-Aruri goes back to 1999 when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had meetings with the al-Qa'ida leadership in Kandahar before opening his training camp near Herat. According to al-Adel, al-Zarqawi "used to travel with Khalid al-Aruri and Sulayman Darwish Abu-al-Ghadiyah." After Zarqawi and his men left Afghanistan in 2001, al-Aruri was one of Zarqawi's trusted inner circle advisors and became one of the key liaisons with Ansar al-Islam in Northern Iraq. Al-Aruri operated as al-Zarqawi's quartermaster and was in charge of training camps in Northern Iraq. Abu al-Qassam participated in an important meeting with people close to
Mullah Krekar Najmadin Faraj Ahmad (, July 7, 1956), better known as Mullah Krekar (), is a Kurdish Sunni Islamic scholar. He was a commander for the Peshmerga unit belonging to the Kurdistan Islamic Movement during the 1991 Iraqi uprisings. Later, he founded ...
in August 2003 in Tehran. On 5 February 2003, Al-Aruri as Abu Ashraf was mentioned in the speech of Secretary of State Colin Powell to the U.N. Security Council. As Abu Ashraf, he was shown on a partial organization chart which was linked to four cells operating in Europe. Cited were a "UK poison cell" a "Spain cell" a "French poison cell", and a "possible Italy cell." Former Director of Intelligence and Counterintelligence at the U.S. Department of Energy and CIA veteran Rolf Mowatt-Larssen stated that "Secretary Powell’s information used for this part of speech proved to be accurate in the course of events."


Arrest in Iran

Al-Aruri moved to Iran and was one of al-Zarqawi's main facilitators there. In a Moroccan investigation into the March 2003 Casablanca bombings, Al-Aruri surfaced as a financier of the attacks as he had sent U.S. $70,000 to the Moroccan Aziz Hummani. In 2003 he was arrested in
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
.


Release by Iran

In March 2015, Khalid al-Aruri was released by Iran together with other high level al-Qa'ida leaders including
Saif al-Adel Mohamed Salah al-Din al-Halim Zaidan (; born 11 April 1960/1963), commonly known by his ''nom de guerre'' Saif al-Adel (), is an Egyptian Islamic militant who is the '' de facto'' leader of al-Qaeda. Previously an Egyptian Army officer, Al-Adel ...
, Abu Khayr al-Masri and
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (; 6 June 1963 – 7 August 2020) (''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammed al-Masri) was a high-ranking Egyptian member of al-Qaeda. He has been described as al-Qaeda's most experienced operational planner and was said to be the se ...
. In September 2015, Khalid al-Aruri went to
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 ...
working for
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 ...
. He confirmed his presence there in 2017, when he released a eulogy for Abu Khayr al-Masri.


Personal life

Al-Aruri married Alia, a sister of the late
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 ...
, while in
Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...
. He was also known by his aliases Abu al-Qassam, Abu Ashraf and Abu Jabal.


Death

On 14 June 2020, a U.S. drone strike killed Khalid al-Aruri and Bilal al-Sanaani who were driving a vehicle in
Idlib Idlib (, ; also spelt Idleb or Edlib) is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly above sea level, and is southwest of Aleppo. It is located near the border with Turkey. History ...
, Syria. The munition used on the vehicle was probably the kinetic Hellfire R9X missile that uses blades to eviscerate its target rather than an explosive warhead, as there was no explosion and al-Aruri's vehicle was relatively intact.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aruri, Khalid 1967 births 2020 deaths Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders Al-Qaeda leaders Jordanian al-Qaeda members Members of al-Qaeda in Iraq Leaders of jihadist groups People from Ramallah People from Zarqa Deaths by American drone strikes in Syria