Abu Ala al-Afri

Abdulrahman Mustafa al-Qaduli
Birth name	Abdulrahman Mustafa al-Qaduli
Born	1957 or 1959 Mosul, Nineveh, Iraq
Died	25 March 2016 (age 55 or 57) Eastern Syria
Cause of death	Anti-ISIL Coalition airstrike (unconfirmed)
Allegiance	Al-Qaeda (1998–2013) Al-Qaeda in Iraq (2004–2006) Islamic State of Iraq (2012 – April 2013) ISIL (April 2013 – March 2016)
Years of service	1990's–2016
Rank	Deputy leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Battles/wars	War on Terror Iraq Iraq War Iraqi Insurgency Syria Syrian Civil War Military intervention against ISIL American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present) Iranian intervention in Iraq (2014–present) American-led intervention in Syria February 2015 Egyptian airstrikes in Libya Boko Haram insurgency

Abdulrahman Mustafa al-Qaduli (1957/1959 – 25 March 2016) (Arabic: عبد الرحمن مصطفى القادولي), alternatively known as Abu Ala al-Afri (أبو علاء العفري) or Hajji Imam, was the Deputy leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. It is believed he ascended to this position following unconfirmed reports of current leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi being severely injured by an airstrike, leaving him unable to retain direct leadership of the group. It was reported that he would have been the successor of al-Baghdadi, if the ISIL leader had died.

On 14 May 2014, Abu Ala al-Afri was listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S Treasury Department. The following year on 5 May 2015, the U.S. Department of State announced a reward of up to US$7 million for information leading to al-Afri's capture or death.

On 25 March 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense announced his death as a result of a US special forces operation conducted on 24 March.

Biography

Abu Ala al-Afri is believed to have been born around 1957 or 1959 in Mosul, Nineveh. Speaking to Newsweek, Dr Hisham al Hashimi, an Iraqi government adviser, stated that "He was a physics teacher in Tal Afar, and has dozens of publications and religious (shariah) studies of his own. He is a follower of Abu Musaab al-Suri."

Afghanistan, Iraq and al-Qaeda

Al-Afri was believed to have traveled to Afghanistan in 1998 and trained with al-Qaeda. It was here he was said to have earned the trust and respect of Osama bin Laden.

According to Newsweek, he left Afghanistan before returning to his native Iraq and joining al-Qaeda in Iraq under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2004. He oversaw the sharia authorities in northern Iraq and served as al-Zarqawi's local leader in Mosul.

When al-Zarqawi's successors, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed in a joint U.S-Iraqi raid in 2010, Al-Qaeda in Iraq (then known as the Islamic State of Iraq) had to choose a new successor. According to Al-Monitor, al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden wanted al-Afri to become the group's new leader and head of al-Qaeda operations in Iraq. Instead however, Haji Bakr, an influential member of al-Qaeda in Iraq and former colonel in the Iraqi army under Saddam Hussein, persuaded the ISI Shura Council to elect Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Syrian Civil War and ISIL

In early 2012, al-Afri was believed to have either escaped or have been released from prison in Iraq, before linking up with the Islamic State of Iraq and moving to Syria during the civil war that was occurring there.

In July 2014, The Telegraph revealed ISIL's cabinet of which it reported that al-Afri, named as Abu Suja in the report, was a "General coordinator for the affairs of martyrs and women" and a member of the War council. It was reported however that 'Abu Suja' has been killed in November 2014 by a U.S airstrike, making it unlikely that Abu Suja and Al-Afri are the same person.

Al-Afri is rumored to favor reconciliation with al-Qaeda and its affiliate in Syria Al-Nusra Front, after al-Qaeda removed ISIL from the group in early 2014. He is also said to prefer that the ISIL's leadership structure be composed half of Arabs and half of foreign members of the group, in contrast to the current dominance of local Iraqis and sometimes Syrians in the ISIL hierarchy.

As Deputy Leader of ISIL

In March 2015, it was rumored that current leader of ISIL, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had suffered injuries, including spinal damage, leaving him incapacitated. According to Middle East analyst Hassan Hassan, al-Afri is believed to have then become the Deputy of ISIL, thereby replacing the Deputy of ISIL in Syria, Abu Ali al-Anbari, as al-Baghdadi's second-in-command. Before becoming al-Baghdadi's deputy, al-Afri was a key coordination link between al-Baghdadi and his inner circle and also his emirs in different provinces across the group's extensive caliphate in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

According to the New York Observer, al-Afri is described by people who know him as being dynamic, possesses operational experience and has very good contacts. It was reported that he is a charismatic preacher. But most importantly, al-Afri supposedly excels in battle strategy. That is where he made his mark both in al-Qaeda and in ISIL. Hisham al-Hashimi, a senior adviser on ISIL to the Iraqi government, wrote of al-Afri "He is smart, and a good leader and administrator. If Baghdadi ends up dying, he will lead them."

Previous incorrect report of death

According to the Iraqi Defence ministry, Abu Ala al-Afri was killed on 12 May 2015, in a US-led Coalition airstrike on a mosque in Tal Afar, where al-Afri was holding a meeting with other group senior leaders. The airstrike was reported to have dozens of other militants present. Akram Qirbash, ISIS's top judge, was also reportedly killed in the airstrike. However, the video of the attack shown by the Iraqi Defence ministry was actually of a Coalition airstrike in Mosul, 40 miles away, on 4 May. The U.S. Defense Department said that it had no information to corroborate the claims, and United States Central Command stated that no mosques had been struck by Coalition aircraft.

Confirmed death

United States Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter in a joint media briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford announced al-Qaduli's death on 25 March 2016, correcting previous Iraqi claims. Forces commanded by JSOC on the previous morning originally planned to capture him in eastern Syria, while he was travelling in a vehicle near the Syrian-Iraqi border, coming from Ar-Raqqah with three other ISIL fighters. Pursued by US Special Forces in helicopters, a firefight ensued and all of the ISIL fighters and al-Qaduli (a.k.a. al-Afri) were killed. US commandos also seized electronics and other documents during the operation for intelligence purposes.

Confusion over identity

In April 2016, The Daily Beast reported that Abu Ali al-Anbari and Abu Ala al-Afri, previously identified as separate senior ISIL leaders, were in fact aliases for the same individual, Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Shakhilar al-Qaduli. The report claimed that Iraqi and American security officials had been confused by his multiple noms de guerre, and that many of the biographical details previously reported, such as his past as a senior officer in the Iraqi military, were incorrect.