List of leaders of the Islamic State
Appearance
Caliph of the Islamic State | |
---|---|
![]() Jihadist flag | |
since 3 August 2023 | |
Inaugural holder | Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi |
Formation | 7 April 2013 |
This is a list of leaders of the Islamic State since the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq.
List of leaders
[edit]Emirs of the Islamic State of Iraq
[edit]No. | Portrait | Name
(Birth–Death) |
Time of Leadership | Note(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Announced | Left office | Time in office | ||||
1 | ![]() |
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
حَمِيدُ دَاوُدَ مُحَمَّدُ خَلِيلِ ٱلزَّاوِيِّ (1959–2010) |
15 October 2006 | 18 April 2010 | 3 years, 185 days | Al-Baghdadi was killed when a joint operation of US and Iraqi forces rocketed a safe house 10 kilometers (6 mi) southwest of Tikrit.[1] |
2 | ![]() |
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
أَبُو بَكْرٍ ٱلْبَغْدَادِيُّ (1971–2019) |
18 April 2010 | 7 April 2013 | 2 years, 354 days | The position was succeeded by a caliph after ISIL announced the establishment of a worldwide caliphate. |
Caliphs of the Islamic State
[edit]No. | Portrait | Name
(Birth–Death) |
Time of Leadership | Note(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Announced | Left office | Time in office | ||||
1 | ![]() |
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
أَبُو بَكْرٍ ٱلْبَغْدَادِيُّ (1971–2019) |
7 April 2013 | 27 October 2019 | 6 years, 203 days | On 27 October 2019, US Joint Special Operations Command's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD-D) along with soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment and 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment conducted a raid through air space controlled by Russia and Turkey into the rebel-held Idlib province of Syria on the border with Turkey to capture al-Baghdadi.[2][3] He was cornered in a tunnel and died by self-detonating a suicide vest, killing alongside two other young children.[4][5] |
2 | ![]() |
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi
أبو الحسن القرشي (1976–2022) |
31 October 2019 | 3 February 2022 | 2 years, 95 days | On 3 February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that U.S. military forces successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation in the town of Atme in Idlib, resulting in the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi by a suicide vest which also killed 12 others.[6][7] |
3 | Abu al-Hasan al-Qurashi
أبو الحسن القرشي (19??-2022) |
10 March 2022 | 15 October 2022 | 219 days | Little is known about al-Qurashi. According to Iraqi security and government officials, al-Qurashi was the elder brother of former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Research published by Hisham al-Hashimi in 2020 stated that al-Qurashi headed the five-member Shura Council. He killed himself on 15 October 2022 by detonating a suicide vest during an operation carried out by former Free Syrian Army rebels which had aligned with government forces in Daraa province.[8][9][10] | |
4 | ![]() |
Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi
أبو الحسن القرشي (19??-2023) |
30 November 2022 | 29 April 2023 | 150 days | Abu al-Hussein was announced as the new leader of Islamic State by Abu Omar al-Muhajir, in the same audio that confirmed Abu al-Hasan's death.[10] The Islamic State announced on August 3, 2023 that Abu al-Hussein was killed by Tahrir al-Sham militants in Idlib province.[11] |
5 | ![]() |
Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi
ابو حفص الهاشمي القريشي (born 19??) |
3 August 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year, 19 days | Abu Hafs was announced as the new leader of Islamic State, in the same audio that confirmed Abu al-Hussein's death.[12] |
List of Spokesmen of the Islamic State
[edit]- Abu Mohammad al-Adnani
- Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir
- Abu Hamza Al-Qurashi
- Abu Omar al-Muhajir
- Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari
Leaders of the international branches of the Islamic State
[edit]![]() |
List of known leaders of the international branches of the Islamic State part of the worldwide caliphate.
Boko Haram as part of ISIL
[edit]- Abubakar Shekau (2015–2016)
Islamic State – Caucasus Province
[edit]- Rustam Asildarov (23 June 2015 – 3 December 2016)[13]
- Aslan Byutukaev (2016-2021)
Islamic State – Sahel Province
[edit]- Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi (13 May 2015 – 2019)[14]
- Abdoul Hakim al-Sahrawi (2019 (Possible) – present)[14]
Islamic State – Khorasan Province
[edit]- Hafiz Saeed Khan (2015 – July 2016)
- Abdul Haseeb Logari[15][16] (2016 – April 2017)
- Abdul Rahman Ghaleb[17][18] (April – July 2017)
- Abu Saad Erhabi[19] (July 2017 – August 2018)
- Ziya ul-Haq[20] (August 2018 – April 2019)
- Abdullah Orokzai[21][22] (April 2019 – April 2020)
- Shahab al-Muhajir (April 2020 – present)[23]
Islamic State in Libya
[edit]- Abu Nabil al-Anbari (13 November 2014 – 13 November 2015)[24]
- Abdul Qader al-Najdi (March 2016 – present)[25] (possible death in September 2020)
Islamic State in Somalia
[edit]- Abdul Qadir Mumin (22 October 2015 – present)
Islamic State – West Africa Province
[edit]- Abubakar Shekau (2015 – 2016) – deposed for being too radical
- Abu Musab al-Barnawi (2016 – 2019) – deposed and demoted without explanation
- Abu Abdullahi Umar Al Barnawi "Ba Idrisa" (2019 – 2020) – purged and reportedly killed after some of his followers opposed his deposition[26]
- Lawan Abubakar "Ba Lawan" / "Abba Gana" (2020 – 2021)[26][27]
Claimed leaders by media and officials
[edit]- Lawan Abubakar (July – August 2021)[27][28]
- "Abu Dawud" / "Aba Ibrahim" (from August 2021)[28][29]
- Malam Bako or Abu Musab al-Barnawi (c. October 2021)[29]
- Sani Shuwaram (from November 2021)[29]
Islamic State – Yemen Province
[edit]- Abu Bilal al-Harbi[30] (c. 2014 – March 2017 (or earlier))
- Abu Osama al-Muhajir[31] (POW)[32][33] (March 2017 – 25 June 2019)
References
[edit]- ^ "Al Qaeda's two top Iraq leaders killed in raid". Reuters. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "Al-Baghdadi Killed in Idlib, a Hotbed of Terror Groups, Foreign Fighters". VOA. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ O'Reilly, Andrew (27 October 2019). "House Dems angered that Trump told Russia, Turkey of al-Baghdadi raid, but not Pelosi". Fox News. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: IS leader 'dead after US raid' in Syria". BBC News. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed in US raid, Trump confirms". the Guardian. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ "Statement by President Joe Biden". The White House. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ Schmitt, Eric; Hubbard, Ben (3 February 2022). "U.S. Evacuated 10 Civilians During Raid, Pentagon Says". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ Al-Khalidi, Suleiman (December 2022). "Islamic State names new leader after Quraishi blew himself up when surrounded -sources". Reuters.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE New Islamic State leader is brother of slain caliph Baghdadi - sources". Reuters. 11 March 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ a b Hindustan Times (30 November 2022). "Islamic State leader Abu Hasan al-Qurashi killed, names successor". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ "ISIL confirms death of leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi, names successor". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ "Islamic State confirms death of its leader, names replacement". Reuters. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ "Six North Caucasus Insurgency Commanders Transfer Allegiance To Islamic State". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Tracking Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, West Africa's most wanted jihadist". The Africa Report.com. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
- ^ "Army Rangers killed in Afghanistan were possible victims of friendly fire". Army Times. 28 April 2017.
- ^ Barbara Starr; Ralph Ellis (8 May 2017). "ISIS leader in Afghanistan was killed in raid, US confirms". CNN. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ Browne, Ryan (14 July 2017). "US kills leader of ISIS in Afghanistan". CNN. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- ^ "Statement by Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Dana W. White on death of ISIS-K leader in Afghanistan". U.S. Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- ^ "ISIL leader in Afghanistan killed in air raids". aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ^ Mujtaba Haris and Ali M Latifi. Taliban takes on ISKP, its most serious foe in Afghanistan. Al Jazeera. 27 September 2021.
- ^ "UN: Islamic State replaced leader in Afghanistan after visit from central leadership | FDD's Long War Journal". longwarjournal.org. 30 July 2019. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ "Afghan forces announce arrest of local ISIL leader". Archived from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ "Who Is the New Leader of Islamic State-Khorasan Province?". Lawfare. 2 September 2020.
- ^ Paton, Callum (10 March 2016). "New Isis leader in Libya – Abdel Qader al-Najdi threatens Daesh invasion of Rome through Africa". IB Times. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- ^ Lewis, Aidan (10 March 2016). Ireland, Louise (ed.). "New Islamic State leader in Libya says group 'stronger every day'". Reuters. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- ^ a b "ISWAP-Boko Haram Reshuffles 'Cabinet', Imposes Levies On Agricultural, Trade Activities In Nigerian Communities". Sahara Reporters. 4 July 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
- ^ a b Wale Odunsi (18 August 2021). "ISWAP reshuffles Nigerian leaders after ISIS order". Daily Post. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
- ^ a b c Wale Odunsi (6 November 2021). "ISIS crowns Sani Shuwaram as new ISWAP leader". Daily Post. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ Gregory D. Johnsen (7 July 2015). "This Man Is The Leader In ISIS's Recruiting War Against Al-Qaeda In Yemen". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- ^ "S/2018/705 - E - S/2018/705". undocs.org.
- ^ "Saudi Coalition Says Head of Yemen's Islamic State Captured". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ^ "Video Footage: Saudi & Yemeni Special Forces Capture ISIS Leader in Yemen". Republicanyemen.net. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.