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ISIS leader killed: Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Photos from open sources

If the information about the elimination of one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world turns out to be true, this will be a serious success for the much-criticized Western operation in Syria.

ISIS leader n. At least, Western publications write about this, citing some media outlets affiliated with the terrorist group. According to sketchy information, the terrorist leader was killed during an international coalition airstrike on Raqqa on the fifth day of Ramadan. At the moment, there has been no official confirmation of the death of the militant from the coalition forces. Moreover, one of the coalition generals said that he had seen reports of Baghdadi’s death, but so far no one can confirm this information.

The numerous “killings” of another dangerous terrorist, Osama bin Laden, are still fresh in memory. There have been attempts on his life many times, and journalists have repeatedly reported about the death of the al-Qaeda ideologist, but several times these reports turned out to be premature. The story with Baghdadi also has many contradictions. Earlier it was reported that he was wounded on the Iraqi-Syrian border. Then some sources claimed that al-Baghdadi was killed in Mosul.

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If the information about the elimination of one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world turns out to be true, this will be a serious success for the much-criticized Western operation in Syria. After all, the personality of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the cornerstone of the shaky structure called ISIS. And it is not known what will happen to this self-proclaimed caliphate after his death.

Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai was born in the vicinity of the city of Samarra (in Iraq) in 1971. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, al-Baghdadi's peers described him in his youth as "a modest, unimpressive, religious theologian, a man who shunned violence." For more than ten years, until 2004, he lived in a poor area on the western outskirts of Baghdad.

“He was quiet, shy and constantly spent time alone,” al-Baghdadi’s classmate Ahmad Dabash, one of the founders and leaders of the Islamic Army of Iraq, told The Telegraph. “I personally knew every leader of the rebel underground, but I did not know Baghdadi. He was of no interest - he used to say prayers in the mosque, but no one noticed him."

According to US and Iraqi intelligence analysts, al-Baghdadi has a doctorate in Islamic studies from a university in Baghdad. According to other information, he has a doctorate in education.

As al-Baghdadi's acquaintances say, the future leader of the Islamic State loved to play football. “He literally shone on the field, he was our Messi. He played better than anyone,” said a parishioner of the mosque in Mobchi, for whose national team the future Islamist leader played in his youth.

According to official data from the US Department of Defense, al-Baghdadi was detained in 2004 for preparing armed protests against the American contingent in the Arab Republic (a mid-level participant in the anti-American Sunni conspiracy). He was sent to the Bucca concentration camp (20-26 thousand prisoners passed through this camp, was located near the city of Umm Qasr and was named after the firefighter Ronald Bucca who died on September 11, 2001 in New York), and then was taken to a camp near Baghdad. At the end of 2004 he was released.

But, according to the recollections of the commander of Camp Bucca, US Army Colonel Kenneth King, he remembered this man well and is “99% sure” that Abu Bakr left them not in 2004, but right before the camp closed, at the end of the summer of 2009. He was sent by C-17 transport plane to a smaller camp near Baghdad and then released. Abu Bakr was remembered by the colonel for the fact that when leaving the camp he told his guards: “See you in New York,” since he knew that they were from New York and belonged to the 306th Military Police Battalion, which was staffed primarily by former New York City firefighters and police officers.

In 2005, al-Baghdadi represented the al-Qaeda terrorist group in the city of al-Qaim in the western desert of Iraq on the border with Syria.

The cell led by al-Baghdadi was originally part of al-Qaeda, but was subsequently expelled due to conflict with the group's Syrian branch.

In 2013, US Senator John McCain met in the Syrian province of Idlib with leaders of the so-called moderate Syrian opposition. Al-Baghdadi was also among them, as captured in many photographs and videos. Neither McCain nor al-Baghdadi deny this information.

In June 2014, the group gained worldwide fame by taking control of large parts of northern Iraq, including the country's second-largest city Mosul, within a month. On June 29, the creation of a “caliphate” led by al-Baghdadi in the territories of Syria and Iraq under his control was proclaimed. Al-Baghdadi himself proclaimed himself “caliph” under the name Ibrahim, and the Syrian city of Raqqa was declared the capital of the “Islamic State”. Al-Baghdadi, among other things, claimed at the time that he was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

Photos from open sources

Al-Baghdadi's declaration of the creation of a "caliphate" was widely criticized and ridiculed by a number of Islamic theologians and leaders of Islamist organizations competing with ISIS.

Photo of al-Baghdadi taken in 2004 during his detention in the American filtration camp Camp Bucca in the vicinity of the Iraqi city of Umm Qasr Photo from open sources

After Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s speech in Mosul, Iraq, during which the leader of the Islamic State announced the creation of a “caliphate,” photographs of the head of the terrorist organization were scattered around the world. The British newspaper The Independent notes that there are only two photographs where the identity of al-Baghdadi is officially confirmed - one of them is in the possession of the Iraqi government, the other is in American military archives and was taken after the arrest of the militant in 2004. Many photographs appear on social networks that allegedly depict the leader of the Islamic State, but they are almost impossible to confirm, which does not allow us to completely remove the veil of secrecy from the image of the odious militant.

On March 18, 2015, al-Baghdadi was seriously wounded as a result of a strike by Western coalition forces on a convoy of three vehicles on the border of Iraq and Syria; reports also said he died in a hospital in the Syrian city of Raqqa. After this, IS militants swore allegiance to the new “caliph” Abdurrahman Mustafa Al Sheikhlar, who received the nickname Abu Alya al-Afri. According to a later report by The Guardian, al-Baghdadi survived but was paralyzed after being shot in the spine.

On December 7, Iranian media reported that the IS leader moved from Turkey, where he had been recently, to Libya to avoid persecution by Iraqi intelligence.

Back in October 2011, the US State Department officially added al-Baghdadi to the list of particularly dangerous terrorists. Washington has announced a reward of $10 million for the head of the IS leader or for information leading to his capture or liquidation.

On December 9, 2014, al-Baghdadi was ranked second in Time magazine's "Person of the Year" list. The editors of the publication noted the record pace of expansion of IS territories - in two years, al-Baghdadi’s militants managed to capture significant territory in Syria and Iraq.

Interestingly, back in the spring of 2015, it was reported that the leaders of the Islamic State militants in the city of Mosul swore allegiance to the new “caliph” Abu Alya Al-Afri. Then rumors about Baghdadi’s death were refuted, but information about his paralysis appeared. Perhaps now Abdurrahman Mustafa Al Sheikhlar, nicknamed Abu Alya Al-Afri, will become the new leader of the caliphate.

Al-Afri, originally from Taliafar, was a teacher by training, a physics teacher, also studied theology and worked as a driver in a small minibus. Already in the 90s, he became the first preacher of takfiri and jihadist ideology in Taliafar, which he preached secretly, and sometimes openly, in a large market mosque in Taliafar. In 2004, he fled his hometown, pursued by the American occupation authorities, and joined al-Qaeda. He was called the chairman of al-Qaeda's advisory council in Iraq. Like his predecessor, he was captured by the Americans, but after some time was released.

So far, there are only rumors about al-Baghdadi's successor.

Sergey Zviglyanich

Islamist terrorist groups Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabab, Boko-Haram, Taliban - their names are legion. But ISIS remains the most brutal and most dangerous today.

The Islamic State does not enter into negotiations even with the same terrorists hiding behind the banner of the prophet. And it does not participate in competitions for the title of the richest organization in the world - no one knows how much money ISIS has. But experts assure that the treasures of ISIS are countless - these include donations from Islamists from all over the world, and oil smuggling, and trafficking in weapons and people.

The cruelty of jihadists is not even the stuff of legends - everything is in the news. Every week their reports about mass executions of dissenters, insufficient believers and dissidents appear online. Journalists looked at the map of ISIS’s actions and tried to figure out how this group managed to gather so many Islamists from all over the world under its banner in a very short time, and who its official leader, who calls himself after the medieval caliph, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, is.

Unlike the past personification of evil, Bin Laden, his current incarnation, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, is not yet so widely known. And although the whole world is discussing his recent marriage to a German woman, to this day only one video of him is available on the Internet. He, unlike Bin Laden, does not come from the richest Saudi family, his relatives are not seen in business ties with the White HOUSE administration, he did not destroy the “twin towers”, and is not hiding in inaccessible caves in the mountains with the fascinating name Tora Bora . But he is alive. Meanwhile, while the popularity of Abu Bakr himself is only gaining momentum, the evil that he personifies is already quite real and very popular.

"This Al-Baghdadi appeared as if out of nowhere, and it is not clear whether the United States is hunting for him or not. Look at what weapons are still falling into the hands of Al-Baghdadi's people in Iraq to this day. He has British, Israeli weapons, and no one is attacking. To understand who is behind them, you need to understand who benefits from the virtual destruction of nation states - Syria and Iraq," says former US National Security Agency employee Wayne Madson.

The story of how a relatively small militant group of Iraqi Islamists fighting in Syria against Assad under the banner of al-Qaeda, within two years, turned into a powerful structure with ambitions of a new Arab caliphate is vague. The person of the Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi raises no less questions. It turned out that eleven years ago he was held in an American prison in Iraq, but then was allegedly released. According to Pentagon officials, he was kept behind bars for no more than a year. However, the former head of this prison claims that Baghdadi spent five years there and was only released in 2009.

“Some believe that this is sufficient evidence that the Americans worked with him, recruited him, and so on. Based on my observations and analysis of what is happening, I can say that, depending on the Americans and on Saudi Arabia, this is all a myth. This myth is spreading mainly the propaganda machine of Iran, which, so to speak, benefits from presenting its opponents as simply hirelings of American imperialism, Israel, Saudi Arabia and so on, but this contradicts the known facts,” believes Heydar Dzhemal, Chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia.

The rapid transformation of the inconspicuous Islamic activist Ibrahim Al-Badri, released from an American prison, into the leader of the most brutal Islamist military group was accompanied by another process - the emergence of former senior officers of Saddam Hussein's army in the leadership of the organization.

“The fact is that when Saddam’s officers came to power in the ISIS group, they purged the previous leadership. It’s a difficult question who purged whom, either the Americans, or these Saddam guys themselves, but, in general, the former leadership of ISIS was destroyed. And the person who, in fact, is behind the creation of the ISIS group was a former officer of Saddam, who is known as Haji Bakr, he died in January 2014. But, nevertheless, he managed to create this group, he managed to create ISIS, and he found this Al Baghdadi, he pulled him out of there, elevated him and brought him into the shura, into the council of commanders, that is, the main management link of the entire group,” says political scientist, expert on the Middle East Anatoly Nesmiyan.

A photograph taken in Syria when the current caliph was still little known. He's in the second row, to the left of Senator McCain. At that time, some unanimity still reigned among the fighters against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. All of them were generously financed by Washington, their armed forces, recognized by the Americans as moderate, trained at military bases in Jordan and Turkey. It is noteworthy that the future caliph of the bloodthirsty “Islamic State,” who had not yet grown a beard, was considered quite a handshake then some three years ago. Analysts who are inclined to believe that Americans are behind the actions of ISIS to this day are convinced: the sharply increased importance of ISIS, the conflict with al-Qaeda, represented in Syria by the Al-Nusra Front, the replacement of the struggle against Assad with the struggle for influence within the ranks of the opposition and, ultimately, ISIS's summer invasion of Iraq are all the result of serious divisions within the White House and on Capitol Hill.

"The United States has several political goals in this region. One of the most significant is a reshuffle of forces in the Middle East. This is carried out through massacres, not by US forces, but in this case, by the forces of the non-governmental army of the Islamic caliph ISIS. But there is another one political line of a certain group led by Senator McCain. This group seeks, first of all, the overthrow of the Assad regime. Senator McCain is not only an American senator and the head of the opposition, but also a high-level functionary in the US government. Therefore, it is very difficult to reliably establish who is subordinate to whom in this matter. The conflict between these two directions is not a conflict of interests, but a conflict of priorities. Either rebuild the entire Middle East first, or still overthrow Assad. The existence of these two political strategies is obvious," says French political scientist and orientalist Thierry Meyssan.

It must be admitted that there are indeed many strange things associated with ISIS. Saudi Arabia, whose representatives at one time provided covert support to this formation, is now forced to strengthen its border in this direction, not without reason fearing an imminent attack. It is known that relations between Riyadh and Washington have recently been far from ideal. In addition, since the triumphant entry of Caliph Al Baghdadi’s troops into Iraq, the United States and Iran, at least in this direction, unexpectedly turned from bitter enemies into allies, bringing Obama closer to the desired solution to the problem of the Iranian nuclear project. Iraq itself, without the direct participation of the Americans, was de facto divided into three parts. So, filming the terrible atrocities committed by Islamic State militants is clearly not enough to conclude that American policy in the Middle East has failed.

16 December 2014, 17:37 Authors: Translation: Arseny Varshavsky, Dima Smirnov, based on materials from Newsweek

Newsweek studied the fate of world terrorist No. 1. Read our translation.

On those rare occasions when ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared in public, his entourage resembled something between a president and a thieves' authority. “When he entered, the mobile connection disappeared,” says a 29-year-old resident of Syria - he asked to be mentioned in an interview only as Abu Ali - the man recalls the only time al-Baghdadi entered the mosque. “Armed guards have cordoned off the area. The women were sent upstairs to the women's prayer service. Everyone was warned not to take photographs or film anything. A terribly nervous atmosphere."

“What made it (the atmosphere more nervous) was when Baghdadi finally appeared, dressed in black from head to toe... The security shouted: “Allahu Akbar! Allah Akbar!" Everyone became even more scared,” says Ali. “Then the guards forced us to swear allegiance to him. Even after Baghdadi left, none of us were allowed to leave the mosque for the next half hour.”

In his hometown of Samarra, which lies in the Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad, al-Baghdadi (real name Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri) is remembered differently. In his hometown he was considered “a very quiet person,” says former neighbor Tariq Hamid. “He was peaceful. He didn't like talking for a long time."

Friends of the leader of ISIS, whose caliphate now controls parts of Iraq and Syria, say al-Baghdadi grew up diligent, pious and calm. He was an introvert without many friends.

Hamid remembers him as a boy on a bicycle, wearing the usual Iraqi men's clothing (dijdasha), with a small white headdress on his head. “He always had religious or other books in the trunk of his bicycle, and I never saw him in trousers or a shirt, unlike most of the guys in Samarra... Thin beard; and he never hung out in a cafe. He had only a narrow circle of acquaintances from the mosque."

It is believed that Abu Bakr was born in 1971 in Samarra. He grew up in Al-Jibria, a lower middle class area that was under the control of the Albu Badri and Albu Baz tribes. The area was also bombed by the US following the 2003 invasion in an attempt to root out insurgents and terrorist cells.

Al-Baghdadi's family was not rich, but two of his uncles worked in Saddam Hussein's security detail. This meant some kind of status and connections, which gave a certain respect or even fear in society. “He was from a poor but intelligent family,” recalls Hashem, a translator who knew his family. “He was very reserved...he went to the mosque, studied, read books, and that’s it.”

Al-Baghdadi grew up just a mile from the 10th-century shrine of Imam Hassan al-Shakri, one of the most sacred sites for Shiites and also an important monument for Sunnis in Samarra. If ISIS sources are to be believed, faith played a big role in al-Baghdadi's life. Another Samarra resident, Yessir Fahmy, says that al-Baghdadi spent much of his childhood in religious studies: “Ibrahim, like most of his family, was a devout Muslim.”

But London-based Iraqi analyst with the Iraq Institute of Economic Reform, Sajjad Jiyad, says he has not seen any conclusive evidence of his religious fervor. "I would be surprised if he was a religious man; most Iraqis who became jihadists were secular Ba'athists before 2003," Jiyad explains.

In addition to religion, as his neighbors say, al-Baghdadi loved sports, mainly football, which he played in the yard near his house. “He rarely lost his temper during a match, even if you hit him or got angry,” recalls Hamid. "He was a great defender."

ISIS websites indicate that in the past, al-Baghdadi studied the Quran in the mosques of Samarra and Hadit - the traditions, actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. One neighbor says al-Baghdadi was looked after by two prominent clerics: Sheikh Subni al-Saarai and Sheikh Adnan al-Amin.

There is controversy over al-Baghdadi's work as a cleric. Some sources say that he preached in a mosque in Samarra, others in Baghdad. But Jiyad claims that this information is highly dubious, and ISIS is creating it for the image of al-Baghdadi.

Most believe that after high school, like most young men during Saddam's reign, he would have served in the Iraqi Army. During this time, he could be taught the basics of military tactics and proper handling of weapons.

At the age of 18, al-Baghdadi traveled to Baghdad for the first time to study. The depth of his knowledge is also a matter of debate. Some, like Hamid, believe that he achieved the degree of professor in religious sciences. It was not possible to clarify this information with family members. “Most of the relatives left Samarra, afraid of being associated with him,” says Fahmy. “Ibrahim left in 2003 to study in Baghdad. His nephew was arrested last year by Iraqi law enforcement. When the last members of his family went to Baghdad to negotiate his release, they were also arrested.”

As far as Fahmy knows, al-Baghdadi has not been in Samarra since 2003.

Prisoners pray at the American prison camp Camp Bucca, Iraq.

LinkedInfor terrorists

The origins of al-Baghdadi's brutal behavior are the bloodshed that began after the US invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein. American troops entered central Baghdad on April 9, 2003. Soon after, the country fell into anarchy. Saddam and his supporters immediately fled - some headed to villages near the Sunni Triangle, others moved to Syria. Sunni insurgents who remained in Iraq began to attack American military bases.

It is believed that al-Baghdadi helped create the terrorist group Jaish Ahl al Sunna wal Jama'a. In 2004 or 2005 - the exact year is unknown, as is all information about al-Baghdadi - he was captured by American troops, presumably during a large-scale manhunt to capture an associate of the Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda's Iraqi cell who was responsible for numerous bombings and deaths, was killed by US troops in 2006.

After his arrest, al-Baghdadi was imprisoned at Camp Bucca prison in northern Iraq, near the city of Umm Qasr, where former Abu Ghraib prisoners were also held. Al-Baghdadi was listed as a “civilian internee,” meaning he had ties to the terrorist group but was not convicted of committing terrorist acts.

It is unknown exactly how long al-Baghdadi spent at Camp Bucca. Some US military leaders who worked at the prison recall that al-Baghdadi was there between 2006 and 2007. Others say he was in prison from 2006-2009. Syrian activist Abu Ibrahim al-Raqqawi says al-Baghdadi was imprisoned between January 2004 and December 2006. Middle East Forum researcher Aymen Jawad al-Tamimi says because al-Baghdadi was involved in terrorist groups in 2005, he should were released at the end of 2004.

Whether he sat for a year or two, al-Baghdadi made good use of that time. At the time, Camp Bucca was a summer camp for aspiring terrorists. While under the supervision of American guards, the prisoners interacted with each other, exchanged information and combat tactics, and made important contacts for future operations. They drew inspiration from the torture at Abu Ghraib prison, the success of al-Zarqawi and divisions within the Sunnis. Historian Jeremy Suri has described Camp Bucca as a "virtual university for terrorists."

“Camp Bucca was a place where many jihadists met each other, and many former Baathists became radicalized and associated with Islamist groups,” writes Aaron Land, editor of the website SyrianCrisis. “So many ISIS leaders have passed through this prison.”

According to Jiyad, it is unlikely that al-Baghdidi was actively involved in insurgency before the US invasion of Iraq, and Camp Bucca was his starting point. "A rebel career must have been a good opportunity for him," he says. One of the people al-Baghdadi met at Camp Bucca was Taha Sobhi Falaha, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, an ISIS spokesman.

After his release from Camp Bucca, al-Baghdadi continued his insurgency. In 2006, an umbrella organization of terrorist groups including al-Qaeda formed the Islamic State in Iraq. In May 2010, he was appointed leader of this organization.

From the very beginning, IS had broad ambitions and its agenda was different from that of al-Qaeda. IS has abandoned the use of the al-Qaeda flag, choosing a different one.

According to the news resource al-Monitor, the split occurred as a result of gradually growing disagreements between al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan, as well as the search for other sources of funding for the organization. “Then, in mid-2013, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (now known as ISIS) and refused to carry out orders from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda. Al-Zawahiri wanted ISIS to operate only in Iraq and for Jabat al-Nusra to be al-Qaeda's representative in Syria."

A former ISIS member who defected from the group and identified himself as "Hussein" says he was with al-Baghdadi during the breakdown in relations between him and the al-Nursa organization, which is based in Syria and collaborates with al-Qaeda. He recalls the paranoia and mistrust that reigned during their meetings, which took place somewhere on the border between Syria and Turkey. “Al-Baghdadi met them in a trailer near the Turkish border,” he says. “He only introduced himself to high-ranking executives. He didn't introduce himself to junior bosses. But what’s interesting is that when he was in a large group, no one could say with certainty that he was the one in the room. Al-Baghdadi wanted to confuse others."

Al-Baghdadi relied heavily on the advice of the late Haji Bakr, the top ISIS leader and former Iraqi army officer who was killed in January 2014, Hussein said. Hussein believes his death was a big blow to al-Baghdadi: “Haji Bakr improved al-Baghdadi's image - he was preparing him for prominent membership in ISIS. But to be honest, the real leader who ruled in the shadows was Haji Bakr.” Al-Baghdadi still relies on dedicated military experts. He met many of them at Cap Bucca.

Quiet paranoid

Little is known about al-Baghdadi's personal life, other than that he is "violent in relationships and quiet in life," Jiyad says. “His behavior and activities are explained by paranoia.”

Most mentions of al-Baghdadi on social media do not provide complete information about him, and they rarely contain information about his activities and personality. ISIS-affiliated social media largely references al-Baghdadi when urging new users to pledge allegiance to the caliph.

Al-Baghdadi changes his location frequently, crossing the poorly guarded border between Iraq and Syria, and may live either in or near Raqqa. Jiyad says that before he fled to Syria with ISIS around 2010, al-Baghdadi likely lived in Baghdad and Mosul. “Very few people met him in those days, and those who saw him wore a mask,” says Jiyad. “His predecessors and peers were killed as a result of denunciations and actions of the special services. However, I also think that between 2010 and 2014 he managed to improve his religious knowledge and was able to create a mystical image around himself.”

Lebanese officials said they arrested al-Baghdadi's daughter and ex-wife in early December, although the exact relationship with him remains unclear. The Iraqi Interior Ministry, citing a source from its department's intelligence group, states that al-Baghdadi has two wives - Asma Fawzi Mohammad al-Dulaimi and Israa Rajab Mahal al-Kwasi.

In public, al-Baghdadi wears a scarf over his face and does not allow photographs or videos of him to be circulated, unlike leaders of other terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda. In old photographs taken in prison in 2004, he looks like "an ambitious terrorist, not a caliph."

Jiyad, who transcribed al-Baghdadi's audio recordings, says they provide insight into his views on, for example, Jabat al-Nursa and al-Qaeda. “He positions himself as the most important and treats organizations outside Iraq with a degree of contempt.”

Al-Baghdadi appears to relish his role as "the world's top terrorist, the heir to Osama bin Laden," Jiyad says.

“If you take away all the mysticism and grandeur, the ‘caliph’ turns into an ordinary person who took advantage of his opportunity,” notes Jiyad. “He is no different from the hundreds of other Iraqis who tried to destroy the new Iraq. He could become an unknown terrorist or a brutal criminal. And now he is in the center of world attention.”

Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri(Arabic, born July 28, 1971, near Samarra, Iraq), aka Abu Dua(Arabic) and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi(Arabic) - leader of an international Islamist terrorist organization, known since 2003 under various names (Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIS, ISIS, Daesh, etc. .), later proclaimed “caliph” of the unrecognized “Islamic State” (or quasi-state), which controls part of the territory of Syria, Iraq and Libya.

The US State Department announced that it would pay $10 million for information that would lead to the arrest or death of this person (the Americans valued only al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri higher at $25 million).

Biography

Al-Baghdadi (real name Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai, in Arabic) is believed to have been born near Samarra, in 1971.

In 2005, Abu Bakr was identified in a US intelligence report as an al-Qaeda appointee in the town of al-Qaim in Iraq's western desert bordering Syria.

The organization headed by al-Baghdadi was initially (2004-2014) part of the international terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, but was expelled from it due to a conflict with another “branch” of Al-Qaeda in Syria.

According to official data from the US Department of Defense, Abu Bakr was detained and held as a suspect (a mid-level participant in an anti-American Sunni conspiracy) from February to December 2004 in the largest American camp in Iraq, Bucca (20-26 thousand prisoners passed through this camp, was located near the city of Umm Qasr and was named in honor of firefighter Ronald Bucca who died on September 11, 2001 in New York). But, according to the memoirs of the commander of the Bucca camp, US Army Colonel Kenneth King, he remembered this man well and is “99% sure” that Abu Bakr left them not in 2004, but right before the camp was closed, at the end of the summer of 2009 He was flown by C-17 transport plane to a smaller camp near Baghdad and then released. Abu Bakr was remembered by the colonel for the fact that upon departure from the camp he told his guards: “See you in New York,” since he knew that they were from New York and belonged to the 306th Military Police Battalion, in which they mainly served former New York City firefighters and police officers.

In interviews with The Daily Telegraph, al-Baghdadi's contemporaries described him in his youth as a modest, unimpressive, religious theologian who shunned violence. For more than a decade, until 2004, he lived in a room attached to a small local mosque in Tobchi, a poor neighborhood on the western outskirts of Baghdad populated by both Shiites and Sunnis.

In June 2014, the group gained worldwide notoriety by taking control of large parts of northern Iraq within a month (with the support of other Sunni anti-government groups), including Iraq's second largest city, Mosul. On June 29, the creation of a “caliphate” led by al-Baghdadi in the ISIS-controlled territories of Syria and Iraq was proclaimed. Al-Baghdadi himself was proclaimed “caliph” under the name Ibrahim, and the capital of the “Islamic State” was declared the city of Raqqa. Also claims to be a descendant of the prophet Muhammad with the name Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini al-Qurashi ().

On July 5, 2014, al-Baghdadi made his first public speech during Friday prayers at a Mosul mosque, recorded on video and posted online, in which he called on all Muslims in the world to submit to him and join the group's jihad. The unrecognized state claims religious and political authority over all areas where Muslims live, including the territories of Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Turkey and Russia.

In 2014, US and Iraqi intelligence analysts said al-Baghdadi had a doctorate in Islamic studies from a university in Baghdad. According to a biography circulated on online jihadist forums, he has received bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees in Islamic studies from the Islamic University of Baghdad since July 2013. Another report says he received a doctorate in education from Baghdad University.

Al-Baghdadi's declaration of the creation of a "caliphate" was widely criticized and ridiculed by a number of theologians and leaders of Islamist organizations competing with ISIS.

Reports of injuries and deaths

On the night of February 26, 2015, the Al-Arabiya channel (Abu Dhabi) reported that as a result of airstrikes by the pro-Western coalition in the Iraqi Al-Qaim region, dozens of terrorists were killed, including major warlords and leaders of the Islamic State. Among those killed or wounded may be the “Emir of the Islamic State” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but the latter has not been confirmed.

On March 18, 2015, Abu Bakr was seriously wounded as a result of a strike by pro-Western coalition forces on a convoy of three vehicles on the border of Iraq and Syria; reports also said he died in a hospital in the Syrian city of Raqqa. After this, ISIS militants swore allegiance to the new “caliph” Abdurrahman Mustafa Al Sheikhlar, who received the nickname Abu Alya al-Afri. According to a later report by The Guardian, Abu Bakr survived, but was paralyzed as a result of a wound to the spine. In December 2015, reports emerged that the ISIS leader secretly moved to Libya after receiving treatment in Turkey.

On June 14, 2016, information appeared in the media that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in an airstrike by Western coalition forces in the vicinity of the city of Raqqa. According to reports, the seriously wounded al-Baghdadi was transported to the city center, occupied by terrorists, where he soon died. On the same day, representatives of the US-led coalition forces said that they did not have information that could confirm these reports. The US Department of Defense, in turn, also denied this information.

On October 3, 2016, the media reported that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was poisoned along with three other high-ranking militants.

Militants of the terrorist group “Islamic State”* allegedly confirmed the death of their leader Ibrahim Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. This information was disseminated on Tuesday by the independent Iraqi satellite TV channel Al Sumaria, citing a source in Nineveh province.

According to the source, IS militants released a short statement announcing the death of the leader of the terrorist group and naming his successor. However, no details were reported.

Information about the death of al-Baghdadi was also confirmed by the Syrian Center for Monitoring Human Rights. However, we should not forget that the London-based center has a dubious reputation and has been repeatedly caught publishing false information.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense said that it does not have data confirming the information about the death of the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Reuters reports.

Reuters

According to some reports, talk about the death of the self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State al-Baghdadi and the appointment of his “legitimate successor” indicate a serious split in the terrorist organization and an internal struggle for power.

In addition, a source from the Al Sumaria channel reported mass arrests among the caliph’s supporters and predicted the possible beginning of a “bloody factional struggle between members of the Islamic State.”

A member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy of Russia, FSB Major General Alexander Mikhailov, believes that the liquidation of al-Baghdadi could significantly affect the financing of the group. He also noted that the destruction of the IS leader is the “logical ending” of the story.

“If they were hunting for him for a long time, they had to get him at some point. However, I do not rule out that he could have died as a result of an internal struggle for leadership. They could kill their own, although it would be preferable for those who were supposed to do it,” RIA Novosti quotes Mikhailov as saying.

Earlier, a number of Iranian sources distributed images allegedly confirming the death of the leader of the terrorist group. In mid-June, the Russian Ministry of Defense began checking information about the likely destruction of al-Baghdadi on May 28 as a result of an airstrike by the Aerospace Forces on the southern outskirts of Raqqa. According to reports, the air raid was carried out after confirmation of information about a meeting of senior members of the Islamic State, in which al-Baghdadi himself participated.

At the same time, the Ministry of Defense stated that if information about the death of al-Baghdadi still needs confirmation, then the destruction of the “emir” of Raqqa Abu al-Haji al-Misri and the head of the intelligence services of the “Islamic State” Suleiman al-Shawah, as well as the liquidation of more at least 300 militants can be said with confidence.

Later, the names of al-Baghdadi's possible successors appeared in the media. According to Reuters, citing experts, his place may be taken by one of his assistants and people from Saddam Hussein’s army - Iyad al-Obaidi or Ayyad al-Jumaily. According to the agency, both IS supporters became key aides to al-Baghdadi after the death of his former advisers Abu Ali al-Anbari and Abu Omar al-Shishani as a result of one of the air strikes.

“Jumaili recognizes Obaidi's supremacy, but there is no clear successor: it could be any of them, depending on conditions,” said Hisham al-Hashimi, an adviser to several Middle Eastern governments on IS-related issues.

Reuters

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. Back in 2011, the US State Department announced a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture or death. The United States valued only the head of al-Qaeda leader* Ayman al-Zawahiri higher - they were ready to pay $25 million for it. But in December 2016, the American authorities increased the reward for information about the head of the Islamic State to $25 million.

This is not the first report of the death of the IS caliph - since February 2015, the media have reported at least five times the death of al-Baghdadi as a result of an airstrike, shelling, and even poisoning. However, supporters of the terrorist organization regularly denied these data.

Recently, Islamic State militants have suffered one defeat after another, both in Syria and Iraq. Against the background of the successes of government troops and the advance of coalition forces towards Raqqa, the completion of the operation to liberate Mosul was announced in early July. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited the country's northern capital to officially announce the end of the operation, which had been ongoing since October 2016. At the same time, the official representative of the international coalition, Ryan Dillon, said that the complete liberation of Mosul from IS militants could be announced within a few days.

*Al-Qaeda, Islamic State (IS, ISIS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia.