Abdul Qader al-Najdi

Abdul Qader al-Najdi, also known as Abu Muaz al-Tikriti, was an Iraqi Islamic militant and the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya. He was killed in September 2020.[1]

History

He is sometimes confused as being Saudi Arabian due to the 'al-Najdi' in his name (Najd being a region of Saudi Arabia), but he was an Iraqi from the city of Tikrit as indicated by his surname. He is not to be confused with Abu Habib al-Jazrawi, a deceased Saudi IS leader in Libya.

He replaced Abu Nabil al-Anbari who was killed in November 2015.[2] His appointment was announced in the IS newsletter al-Naba in March 2016.[3]

The Libyan National Army (LNA) reported in September 2020 that during a raid in Sebha, it had killed the man who had led the Libyan branch of ISIS since 2015 who they identified as Abu Moaz al-Iraqi, also known as Abu Abdullah al-Iraqi.[4]

References

  1. ^ https://www.dni.gov/nctc/ftos/isis_libya_fto.html
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Eastern Libyan forces say they killed Islamic State leader, Reuters, September 23, 2020