Abu Nabil al-Anbari | |
|---|---|
 Alleged photo of al-Anbari | |
| Born | |
| Died | (2015-11-13)13 November 2015 |
| Cause of death | Airstrike |
| Other names | Abu Nabil al-Anbari, Abul Mughirah al-Qahtani, Abu Yazan al-Humairi |
| Organization | Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
| Known for | FormerEmir ofIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya |
Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al-Zubaydi, better known by hisnoms de guerreAbu Nabil al-Anbari (Arabic:أبو نبيل الأنباري,romanized: ʾAbū Nabīl al-ʾAnbārī),Abul Mughirah al-Qahtani (Arabic:أبو المغيرة القحطاني,romanized: ʾAbū al-Mughīrah al-Qaḥtānī) orAbu Yazan al-Humairi (Arabic:أبو يزن الحميري,romanized: ʾAbū Yazan al-Ḥumayrī)[1] was a commander in theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the leader of itsLibyan branch. Al-Anbari was killed by a US military airstrike on 13 November 2015.[2][3][4][5]
Abu Nabil al-Anbari was anIraqi policeman in theAnbar Province who, following the2003 invasion of Iraq, joinedal-Qaida in Iraq and took part in theIraqi insurgency. Arrested by American forces in 2008, Abu Nabil spent time in detention inAbu Ghraib prison before being released after a year and a half, upon which he returned to armed militancy. However, not long after he was released, he was captured and imprisoned again, being detained in Abu Ghraib prison until he was freed byISIL in an attack on Abu Ghraib prison and a mass prison break on 21 July 2013.[6][7] He would later serve as ISIL's "governor" ofSalahuddin Governorate, responsible for the group's operations there, including theattack on the city ofSamarra. As the governor of Salahuddin Governorate, he was responsible for overseeing the execution of up to 1,700 ShiaIraqi Air Force cadets in theCamp Speicher massacre. In 2014, ISIL's leadership dispatched him from Iraq toLibya as part of a delegation to gather pledges of allegiance toAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi from local militants and lead the nascent ISIL branch in the country.[8]
Al-Anbari was killed in a US airstrike outside ofDerna, Libya on 13 November 2015.[4] TheLibya Herald reported local claims that al-Anbari had not been killed in the airstrike,[9] however a eulogy to Abu Nabil al-Anbari was published online by a member of ISIL some weeks later.[10] In a statement following the strike, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said "Abu Nabil's death will degrade [ISIL's] ability to meet the group's objectives in Libya, including recruiting new members, establishing bases in Libya, and planning external attacks on the United States."[11] He added: "Reporting suggests [he] may also have been the spokesman in the February 2015 Coptic Christian execution video," referring to a video which showed thebeheading of 21 Egyptian Copts in Libya after their kidnapping in 2015.[3] His killing was the first military action by the United States against an ISIL target outside of Iraq and Syria while still connected to the organization's core leadership (other militants struck in countries like Nigeria and Afghanistan are not believed by US officials to be directly linked to the Iraq and Syria based leadership).[3][12]
In January 2016, ISIL confirmed al-Anbari's death and launched a series of attacks andbombings across Libya named "the battle of Abul al-Mughirah al-Qahtani" in his honour.[13][14] Al-Anbari was succeeded as leader of ISIL in Libya byAbdul Qader al-Najdi.[15]
Abul-Mughirah al-Qahtani, also known as Abu Nabil al Anbari, a senior Iraqi commander who was killed US air strikes in November 2015